


A Fiery Spirit and An Icy Heart

by RosettaStarlight



Series: Not Set in Stone [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon, Chad Charming Being an Asshole, Gen, Multi, Other, Past Abuse, Quests, Villain Kids Have Issues, i mean seriously, king beast and queen belle were a bit unfair
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-09 05:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18910072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosettaStarlight/pseuds/RosettaStarlight
Summary: The United States of Auradon didn't just have all the stereotypical princesses you may have heard about. Living there also was the bold, adventurous, and sarcastic Svanhild, daughter of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Everyone expected her to be like every other perfect little princess, but she was more for excitement and adventure. She liked to think it came from her father, and how he was always up in the skies whenever he could get away with it.Svanhild had always been open to change, and maybe the children of the Isle of the Lost coming to Auradon was what she was looking for. But when she hears the son of her father's nemesis, the murderer of her grandfather, is with them, Svanhild must learn if she can be open about truly giving people a chance. After all, not everyone is their parents, right?





	1. A Fiery Spirit

Some say other's destinies are set in stone, that everything is good or bad. There's no in between. Everyone is expected to be exactly like their parents. Everyone was expected to  _be_  their parents. Or at least, that's what was said. In reality, everyone was expected to be perfectly perfect. Some went with it. And then there were some who looked that stereotype straight in the eyes, said  _screw that_ , and decided to live their lives however they wanted to. One is the main character of our story. While she was a bit like her father and mother, she liked to go a  _little_  off script.

Her name was Svanhild. And she was the daughter of the chieftain of Berk, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third. With her father's rebellious spirit and her mother's determination, personality-wise it was obvious she was her parents' daughter. Despite coming from what most Auradonians thought was a quite barbarous group of people, Svanhild could've been mistaken for someone in line for a throne.

Yeah, she may have downplayed her beauty with the constant amount of soot on it from whenever she was working in the blacksmiths on her island, Berk, and almost always wore either her dragon rider mask or her goggles in Auradon, she had beauty to behold, much like her mother. With auburn hair, forest green eyes, freckled skin, and a heart-shaped face, it was hard to believe she wasn't chased after by the many princes on Auradon. That is, if she didn't have what they thought was an undesirable personality.

Over the course of twenty years, the residents of the United States of Auradon had children. Hiccup and Astrid were happy together and were no different, and that's how Svanhild and her siblings came into their life. Stoick, her older brother, was originally meant to be chieftain, but he had fallen for Ashlynne, the daughter of Dagur the Deranged (much to their father's dismay that he and Dagur were now going to be in-laws, even though he gave them his blessings) and future chieftain of the Berserker Tribe. They were soon to be married in a few months, which left Svanhild as the successor of chieftain, something that terrified and excited her at the same time. If something should happen to her, the role would fall to her younger brother, Killian, but she didn't count on it. If she were to leave Berk in his hands, she guaranteed Berk would be doomed.

While she was happy back on Berk, when she was fourteen, both Hiccup and Astrid thought it might be a good idea to let Svanhild mingle with the prince and princesses she'd be forced to get along with already when she was older as a leader of Berk. Over the course of three years, she'd had to go to boarding school with a bunch of prissy princesses and princes, not many of which were exactly welcoming to the young viking girl. To them she was odd. The weird viking girl who always hung out with dragons, something everyone in Auradon prep seemed to have a thing against.

She knew people would talk. She wasn't a future king or queen, just the daughter of a chief, someone they thought of lesser importance. Sure, it wasn't like he'd saved his people at least twice while the half of the royals could barely even protect themselves from getting duped and nearly killed. Sure, it wasn't like her father was a valuable ally to Auradon. Sure, it wasn't like their people had trained beasts barely any of the Auradonians would go near.

Plus, there was their mindset that she just couldn't find herself agreeing with. That if you weren't one hundred percent good, you weren't worthy. Personally, she couldn't believe that. Not everyone was one hundred percent good and not everyone was a hundred percent bad. You could seem like a bad person and have a good heart, just as it is the other way around where you could seem like a good person but have no heart.

By the time Svanhild was seventeen, she knew her parents' stories. And she was angry. Angry at all the goody-two-shoes that lived freely in Auradon who didn't give her family or her people the respect they deserved. That even after all they'd done, they weren't thought of as important as every other king and queen. They were just thought barbarians by half the kids at Auradon Prep. It wasn't fair.

Now, on the subject of Svanhild herself, she wasn't the most sociable kid on Auradon, but she was certainly one of the rudest by Auradon's standards. She was smart, got acceptable grades, and rode her dragon whenever possible. Quiet whenever not giving anyone any snark, she tried to keep out of everyone's way, the same going for Elias; son of Queen Elsa of Arendelle and one of Svanhild's few friends. A fellow misfit that she had clicked with almost immediately on her first day. Another being Hunter; the son of Hercules and Megara, Kai; son of Moana, and Raquel and Alex; the twin son and daughter of Rapunzel and Eugene. There was also Prince Ben; son of Queen Belle and King Beast, but he was too much of a goody-two-shoes for her taste. She still liked him enough though, and he her since she was one of the only people who didn't give him any special treatment or kissing up because he was the heir to the throne of Auradon. She treated him like any other normal person.

Life was otherwise boring. That is until Ben ran up to her one morning and told him he had something planned to tell his parents. He also said for her not be angry at him when he says it, but he wanted her to know what was happening first. She had quirked an eyebrow at this, confused.

"Why?" had been her first words as she stood in the doorway of her room, goggles fixed upon her head.

"Because I've always appreciated your honest opinion," Ben nervously smiled. "Your brutal, yet honest opinion."

"Uh, yeah, I don't have the time to sugarcoat things," snorted Svanhild, waving about the hand holding a tool. "I mean, do I look like Willy Wonka to you? I prefer to tell it as it is. Even if it makes your little royal behind cry."

"That's exactly what I need here," Ben chuckled. "My other friends might not see it the same way as you how important it is to me. You see, I plan on making my first royal proclamation. Something not everyone might like."

"And you're telling me this because..." She waved her hand about for more emphasis to tell him to get on with his point.

Ben sighed. "May I come inside?"

Though surprised, Svanhild opened the door to get room wide enough for him to enter. Inside, he could see various tools scattered about her desk, her latest project half-done. "Sit and don't break anything or Auradon will have to find a new heir," Svanhild ordered.

"New tailfin for Daybreak?" Ben asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, now what do you want to talk about?" Svanhild demanded, cutting straight to the point. "New proclamation and whatnot. Look, um, not everyone can be made happy with whatever you decide. There's always going to be someone who won't be satisfied no matter what you do."

"No, I'm pretty certain no one will like it very much, kinda like when your dad tried to introduce dragons to Berkians." Ben stopped, noticing Svanhild's raised eyebrows, and guessed he was treading on thin ice. "It's relevant to the subject, I swear," he quickly said, one hand raised. She gestured with one hand for him to continue. "I'm serious. No one will like it, and I think it's the right thing to do, but I don't think anyone else will see it that way. What if my own parents think I'm making the wrong choice and shoot me down before I can even get another word out?"

Svanhild listened carefully, both hands clasped and pulled up to her mouth. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Ben. She knew that feeling, the feeling she'd make too many mistakes once the weight of her people and her home rested on her shoulders, once her parents' responsibility became her responsibility. It was terrifying, knowing that when they stepped down, it was her job to keep everything going. "Alright, relax," she sighed. "Like I said, you can't make everyone happy. If you think this is the right thing to do, then do it and screw what everyone else thinks. They're not the ones making all the calls. You are. Hold your head up high, look them in the eye and tell them your proclamation. All there is to it."

Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair. At times like these, it was easy to see how much he was his mother's son. "It's not that simple..."

Giving out an exasperated sigh, Svanhild tied her auburn hair away from her face as she seated herself in a chair pulled up to her desk. "Alright, pretend I'm your parents. Be straightforward, hold your head up high, and don't show weakness or hesitation. Don't second guess yourself."

"Okay..." Ben cleared his throat and stood up straight, following her instructions. It was obvious his nerves were starting to get to him even though this was only a demonstration. "Here's my proclamation, Mom and Dad," he said, then winced at how awkward he sounded.

"We'll work on that later. For now, let's focus on cutting to the chase," Svanhild interrupted before he could backtrack, mostly because she wanted to find out what had him so anxious. "Just spit it out before you lose your nerve. Let them get that you know exactly what you're talking about."

Ben took a deep breath. "You're right. I got this," he murmured to himself. He straightened up. "I plan on giving the kids on the Isle of the Lost a chance to live in Auradon."

Now that reaction he could gauge might be the same as his parents'. Svanhild's jaw dropped, her eyes bulging out of her head in shock. She opened her mouth and closed it several times like a fish out of water, then bit her lip. And then she nodded her head in approval. "Not bad, Benny-boo. You're not as gutless as I thought you were."

"You don't think it's a crazy idea?" Ben asked.

"Crazy? You don't know crazy till you know my family," Svanhild snorted, inspecting her nails. "Besides, it's not like they choose to be evil. They're raised that way. Just because they come from a bad background doesn't mean they're bad people." Ben flashed her a grin. "Besides, what even makes  _us_  good other than the fact that our parents were good? And what makes them 'evil' other than the fact that their parents were villains?"

"That's a very good point!" Ben grinned, then that grin turned to a grimace. "If only you could be the one to convince my parents to accept it."

"Yeah, I like you, Benny-boo, but I'm not doing that," Svanhild chuckled, shaking her head. "You're going to have to deal with that family disaster on your own."

A nervous wreck, Ben sighed. "How are you so good at this?"

"I'm the heir to Berk. I'll be chieftain when my dad steps down, except I've still got a few years. You're, like, a year younger than I am and already going to have the entire United States of Auradon depending on you in only a month. It's understandable you'd be nervous," explained the Viking, her arms and shoulders moving of their own accord as she talked, a trait obviously inherited from her father. Ben didn't want to point it out because then she'd get annoyed and he needed some support right now. "Just remember that your parents will understand and everything will work out."

"Thanks," breathed Ben. "I just think it's unfair that all those kids have been abandoned on the Isle with none of the luxuries we have, forced to grow up with villains." He sighed and stared out the window, the Isle of the lost seen in the distance. "Who knows what they grew up with? We have the luxury to choose who we want to be. They don't."

"Relax, Benny-boo, if anyone can do it, you can." Svanhild scoffed, twiddling her thumbs. "Besides, if it were me, I'd be dying to get out of there, too, if I were stuck in a place with no WiFi." She looked up from her action with a smirk. A little humor never hurt anyone.

Ben gave a small laugh at the joke. "You're the best," he said.

"Of course I am, Benny-boo."

"You know, only Audrey calls me that." As he was about to leave, Ben paused, glancing back at the older teen sitting in her chair.

"I know, but when she says it, it sounds stupid," replied Svanhild bluntly. "And when I say it, I say it to mock you." Looking him up and down, her lips curler in a mischievous smirk. "Would you rather I call you 'Prince Beasty the Second?'"

Ben laughed, but by the way Svanhild was looking at him, it was obvious she wasn't kidding. "On second thought, I'm fine with Benny-boo."

"Thought so." With that, Svanhild leaned back in her chair, then gestured for him to leave. "You're dismissed, Your Royal Highness."

With a slight roll of the eyes and a chuckle, Ben left her dorm room. The minute he was out, the door slammed shut behind him. Svanhild placed her goggles back over her eyes and went back to working on her project.  _Only a few more touches and it would be perfect_ , she thought to herself as she picked up a tool.

* * *

 

An hour after her discussion with Ben, Svanhild was outside, the ground wet with fresh rain, glistening in the sunlight. A white dragon bounded toward her, knocking her to the ground. It licked her face relentlessly until she was practically soaking wet in dragon slobber.

"Ew! Daybreak! Yield!" Svanhild cried, holding up her arms to shield herself. Eventually, the dragon backed off. "You missed me, huh, girl?" she cooed, scratching her under the chin. After a moment, the dragon fell to the ground with a soft contented pur. Svanhild laughed and scratched Daybreak I the same spot. When she stopped, she wagged a finger 'no' in Daybreak's face. "We've talked about this, girl," she teased. "This--" she yanked at her wet tunic-- "does not wash out. If you're going to ruin someone's clothes, ruin Audrey's."

The dragon tilted her head, then nodded with an agreeing growl, as if saying, "that's not a bad idea."

"Atta girl," her rider encouraged. "I could never ask for a better dragon." Daybreak gave Svanhild a toothless grin, her white scales gleaming in the sunlight. Thankfully, she hadn't developed her father's habit of totally unoriginal names. See, Daybreak wasn't a normal dragon. Not even for a Night Fury. As an albino Night Fury, an even rarer form of the dragon, it had always been Svanhild's job to keep her safe from dragon trappers and the like since they'd found each other that first time.

Well, to be more accurate, Svanhild found Daybreak alone in the middle of the forest when she was ten. Back then Daybreak had been only an egg. To this day, Svanhild wasn't sure if her dragon had really been abandoned or if her parents were slaughtered as many Night Furies were. While no one but she and her father on Berk had seen one, that didn't mean people in different parts of the Archipelago hadn't.

It was very likely their dragons were one of the last Night Furies on earth. Which meant the Night Furies were close to being extinct.

Just the thought of it made Svanhild sad.

Suddenly, Daybreak leaped up and ran over to an approaching figure in the distance. Ben. He was wearing a new suit, which made Svanhild pity him since it was about to be ruined.

"Svan, I--" were the only words that left his lips before he was tackled to the ground. "Aw, come on!" he laughed. "You didn't let me tell her."

"Daybreak!" Svanhild chuckled, gently coaxing the dragon to get off the prince. "You know how much she loves you, Benny-boo. Just can't help herself."

As Ben got up from the ground, he took off his suit jacket and wrung it out. "Well, considering this was new, I don't think Mom and Dad will be too pleased when they see this," he grimaced, accessing the damage.

"They'll live." Svanhild leaned against her dragon laying on the ground. "What did you want to tell me?"

"I did it!" Ben exclaimed proudly, throwing his jacket over one shoulder. "I told them, and they agreed!" He seemed like an overly happy puppy, practically bouncing with joy. "You were right!"

"Well, duh, of course I am," Svanhild snorted, folding her arms across her chest. Internally, though, she couldn't have been prouder. "So who are these 'villain kids' parents?"

Ben's expression changed from cheerful to nervous and slightly terrified in the span of three seconds. "See, remember when I told you earlier not to be mad at me? This is why..."

"Well, spit it out, who is it?" Svanhild demanded, more intrigued than annoyed.

"Okay." Taking a deep breath, Ben said, "I chose the children of the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil, Jafar, Maleficent, and...Drago Bludvist."


	2. Icy Heart

Drake Bludvist stared out at the magical barrier surrounding the Isle of the Lost from a rooftop. He sat on the edge, his shaggy dark hair falling into his eyes. Just staring at the thing keeping them on this wretched prison made his blood boil.

In the morning, he hadn't had a particular destination in mind when he ran out of his 'home.' He had just kept running, not wanting to go back after what happened.

He bit his bottom lip as he watched the sun over the horizon. There were people he could talk to, people who knew what he went through with his father, people who were the closest things he considered to friends, but he couldn't. He wanted to be left alone. He hated feeling weak and being forced to display it around the Isle with the marks on his body. And most of all, he hated being thought of like this: Weak, defenseless, unable to do anything to retaliate against the villain in his own home, the person they say was supposed to care for you.

Well, if his father cared for him, he certainly had a way of showing it.

Drake stared at his arm, seeing the fresh bruise already showing, a memory of today's "accident." Yeah, good times.

Gently pressing a finger to it, he hissed in pain. He gritted his teeth, trying to hide the fact that it actually hurt. He had no clue why. No one was here to see him, no one would care. Everyone knew better than to make fun of him when he knew just about everything about everyone on the Isle. After all, he made the plans when he and his gang went out to cause mischief among the residents of the island.

It wouldn't matter if he allowed himself to cry, show any sign of pain, so why try to hide it?

He knew why.

He had to convince himself that he was evil, cold, heartless, cruel... Just like he made himself out to be. Tough, untouchable. But there were times he just couldn't bring himself to hide it anymore.

So there he sat on the rooftop, not a tear coming from his eyes. After all, a Bludvist  _neve_ r cries.

_Just like I'll never make him proud_ , Drake thought bitterly to himself. Not that he cared for his father's approval. That would be pathetic. But it wouldn't hurt for him to get something other than the usual looks of disdain and disappointment. He shrugged on his makeshift jacket and got up from the edge of the building. He scooped up his old duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder, letting it rest against his back.

Inside were all his possessions: some clothes and a few tattered old books (all of which he had memorized cover to cover), one of which being the only gift he'd ever gotten from his father when he was four. His books were about the one thing his dad hadn't ruined for him yet. And Drake found himself hoping and wishing he never did.

After all, Drake knew about his family history. His own mother hadn't even wanted him. Once he was born, she passed him off to his father and was never seen again. Drake's dad made sure he knew how lucky he was that his father hadn't left him for dead. As if this life was much better.

He knew exactly what his dad had done, and how that had been a one-way ticket to the Isle of the Lost. Drake couldn't say he blamed people for being of afraid of him. He also knew about Auradon, and how all the other kids there lived happily and peacefully, much unlike the lives of the teens stuck on the Isle. And that was what made Drake angry.

He was forced to suffer under his father, forced to stay in this prison where just about everything sucked, when he hadn't done anything wrong except being born. That was his horrendous crime that required punishment: being born to a bad man. Even though he had no control over that. Didn't they think he hated it, too? No, they just stuck them both here, and it was obvious his father was as unhappy with the arrangement as he was.

He understood that was the way of things, but still he wondered. He wondered who he could have been and where he could be if he had been taken away from this infernal island.

With a sigh, Drake walked across the rooftop, effortlessly jumping to the next. He hummed along with the tune he heard from below his spot although he wasn't one for joining in on the group's songs. He would much rather wreak havoc than sing about it. Besides, he never understood why the teens around here would just oh so randomly burst into song. But he had to admit it was catchy.

_I'm rotten to the core,_ _core_ _,_

_Rotten to the core_

He jumped to another building, his eyes catching a billboard with King Beast's face on it. On it also was a speech bubble saying something stupid about being good. Drake scoffed, rolling his eyes. Did he really expect that much from a bunch of villains' kids? Still, he went higher, wanting to catch a clear view of what was going on down on the ground.

_I'm rotten to the core, core,_

_Who could ask for more?_

Black leather boots hit the platform of the billboard, Drake setting down his bag. From up here, he could see everything going on in the rundown streets of the Isle. His sort-of-friends were the ones singing, causing small acts of mischief while doing so.

_I'm nothing like the kid next--like the kid next door_

Among them were Mal; daughter of Maleficent, Evie; daughter of the Evil Queen, Carlos; son of Cruella De Vil, and Jay, son of Jafar. Sure, back a few months ago, Drake wouldn't have even thought of them as sort-of-friends. Evie used to be the type of person he'd find blatantly annoying, and Carlos was the type of person he'd mostly ignore and feel pity for when the bullies got to him, (of course now they know better with four children of the most terrifying villains on the Isle as his bodyguards) while Jay was someone he'd always be wary and suspicious of, and Mal just being someone he hated because of her insistence of calling him by his given birth name since they were children.

But things had changed. There were certain things you could go through together without at least becoming something close to friends. And that dangerous mission they went through to retrieve Maleficent's scepter not too long ago was definitely one of them. Of course, Drake didn't need friends, but it was nice having them around.

_I'm rotten to the core, I'm rotten to the core_

Drake looked out at the sea again, his eyes resting on the far off land of Auradon. His gaze narrowed. "If I ever get off this island, I will make you all pay for leaving me here," he growled lowly.

_I'm rotten to the core_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of screams ringing through the air as the teens that had previously sang along ran away in terror. Only two people could inspire that much fear on the Isle, and his heart instantly quickened at the thought of one of those people finding him up here. Then he relaxed when he heard Mal say, "Hi, Mom."

Silently leaning forward, he couldn't hear much of the conversation from here, and he wanted to get a closer look at what was going on. As he was about to jump from the platform onto another roof nearby, he heard something from Maleficent's mouth that stopped him in his tracks. 

"You four and that strange little friend of yours have been chosen to go to a different school...in Auradon."

Their reactions were just as shocked and confused as his. Carlos, Jay, and Evie bolted, or at least tried to. The big buffoons Maleficent called her goons sneaked up behind them, and held them tightly in their grip. Mal stood, anger apparent on her face as she faced her mother head-on.

Then Drake recalled himself being mentioned. After all, he and Mal grew up with similar parents, except that as far as he knew, Maleficent had never _punished_  Mal the same way Drago punished him.

With the thought of his father, Drake realized that he should probably tell him before he found out on his own. He made his way down, his feet hitting the ground with barely a sound. He turned down an alley, running silently through the trash left behind. Normally he'd search through it for rations of food to bring back home but he didn't have time for that now. If Drago discovered the news first, he'd think Drake was purposely withdrawing information from him, and he didn't want a replay of the last time _that_  happened.

Trash cans blocked his path along the way, and he jumped, launching himself off the side of a wall. He landed on the other side with a roll before continuing his run. Eventually he reached the building where he and his father resided. He honestly preferred hanging out with his sort-of-friends in the building Maleficent had taken over with Cruella, Jafar, and the Evil Queen. Even if all they did was constantly whine about being stuck here.

Just looking at his 'home' made a feeling of dread settle in the pit of his stomach. Drake took a deep breath and went up. Secretly, he was hoping his father wasn't around. Then a deep voice cleared his throat.

"Father," Drake greeted, his head down, not finding the courage to look the man in the eye as he turned around to face him, eyes blazing.

_And he already knows. Amazing_ , Drake thought.

"Drog." Hearing his birth name sent shivers down Drake's spine. "You didn't think to come tell me about you being sent to Auradon prep? I had to hear about this from Maleficent herself." His scathing tone made Drake bit his lip, tapping one finger against his thigh to keep him calm enough so it wouldn't show how terrified he was.

"I only just found out, sir. I'm sorry," he mumbled, lifting his head up to look Drago in the eyes.

"What have I told you about mumbling?!" he shouted, Drake flinching, subtly moving as far away as he could.

"That we don't do it," said Drake, standing his ground despite already knowing what was about to come.

Drago took his staff, the one he once used to control dragons, and lightly whacked Drake on the shoulder with one end. Okay, so maybe it wasn't precisely _light._

Drake winced, holding his stinging shoulder. It was mild compared to what his father usually did, but it still hurt.

"Today, you're finally going to put yourself to some use," Draco spat, turning away. "The five of you were all chosen by the prince himself to leave the Isle to go to that school in Auradon." The word sounded like poison on his tongue.

Drake gulped. "The five of us were chosen by the prince?"

"Yes. It seems he wants to evaluate you all as you adjust. I believe this is his way of giving all villain kids a new chance." Drago gave a dark chuckle. "How foolish of them to think my own son would be swayed to their views. No son of mine will ever accept their backward ways of thinking. Isn't that right?"

Drake nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."

"You're going."

"But you said--"

"I know what I said," Drago growled. "Listen to what I'm saying now. You are going with your _friends_ \--" he said the word with disdain "--to Auradon where you will retrieve the wand and free us all. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir." Drake gulped, nodding. Then he was dismissed without another word. Just a simple nod telling him what he always told him before bed _. Don't screw up. Or else._ The words would always send Drake into a panic as he curled up into a ball on the cold floor before falling asleep.

The minute Drake was out of his father's line of vision, he ran. He ran away until he was back in the alley, breathing heavily as he leaned his back against the stone wall. He gently pressed the wound on his shoulder, wincing as it came away with a touch of blood on the fingertips from the sharp edge of the staff.  _What was he getting himself into?_

"Drake!" Drake instantly pulled his hand away, putting on a mask of cold indifference. Coming towards him was his old sort-of-friend, Fate. She held a green rotten apple in one hand, throwing it up and catching it again. Black hair fell to her hips, her pale skin having a slight indigo tint to it as she strode down the alley. She wore no makeup on her pretty face, her dark eyes piercing. She wore a dark purple dress and had an intimidating and powerful air about her. None else could be expected from the demigod daughter of Eris, the goddess of Discord.

Unlike every other teen on the Isle, she was stuck here without parents. For her, it was literally that her only crime was being born to a horrid parent. Fate's father had been a good man, living in Auradon according to what Fate vaguely remembered, but Eris was her mother, and since none of the kings and queens could hope to capture the goddess, once they'd found out who she was, they'd settled for her four-year-old daughter.

If anything, that was their biggest mistake yet. Over the past ten years, Fate had grown angrier at Auradon as all the other villains, possibly more.

And maybe that was what made them click twelve years ago when she first came through the magic barrier. He made sure she had a place to sleep every night and that she had enough to eat. Though, he guessed now that she would have to do that on her own.

"What's this about you heading to Auradon?" she asked in slight amusement. "You guys going soft on me?"

"You wish." A corner of Drake's mouth twitched upward, the closest he'd ever gotten to smiling. "Just heading there for them to think they've changed a couple of villains kids, then we're going to teach them what happens when you screw us over."

Fate gave a wicked grin that could send chills down anyone's back. However, Drake was immune to it after so long. "This is why you're my favorite," she said, slinging an arm around his shoulder as they walked together. "Sure, there are those other dragon kids, but you're my favorite out of all of them." He knew she was talking about the children of the Grimborns and the daughter of Trader Johann. True, they weren't as bad as his dad, but then again, no one was in Drake's mind. To him, his father was the scariest thing in the whole world.

"I'm sure I am," snorted Drake. "Maleficent wants off the island. So do I and our parents. She's got a plan, according to my dad. It's our job to follow it." He decided not to tell her what exactly that plan was. "If we're lucky, everyone will be off this island and free to wreak as much havoc on Auradon as they want."

Stopping at the building Maleficent resided, Fate stepped away from Drake. "Now that's what I like to hear," she smirked. She slipped something into Drake's jacket pocket. "A small message from me to the king so they know I better not be on their next list for kids to 'redeem' to goodness. Because that ship sailed the day they left me here." With that, she took a bite of her apple and sashayed away.

Drake rolled his eyes with a soft scoff. That girl was something. He walked toward the building where a long, shiny black car was parked outside. Well, that certainly caught his attention. Everyone else's bags were already in the open trunk. A male driver stood outside, looking Drake up and down, his eyes lingering in the marks on his face. Yeah, Drake was used to that look, no matter how subtle the driver tried to be.

"Drog, hurry up!" Mal called from inside the limo. "We're waiting for you!"

At the sound of his birth name, Drake flinched, his mind flashing back to every time his father had said that name in the exact tone. It had never ended pleasantly for him.

Still, Drake quickly regained his composure and made his way forward. The male driver tried to take his bag, but Drake moved away abruptly and climbed into the car. He settled into one of the seats next to Mal, taking out one of his books.

"So glad you finally decided to join us, Drake," Mal said. Her expression almost seemed apologetic like she had just realized her blunder with his name. But a villain never apologizes. "I was wondering when you'd show up.

Drake rolled his eyes and ignored the jab. As the car rolled away, he could hear the others' parents shouting for them to bring things like a puppy and a prince. A corner of his mouth twitched up at their antics. "So, are you going to get that checked out when we get to Auradon?" Evie asked quietly, pointing to the cut on his shoulder showing through his jacket.

Drake adjusted his jacket to hide it better. "It's nothing. I just tripped and hit something sharp."

"Yeah, and Maleficent is all about sunshine and rainbows," Jay snorted.

"We're not idiots, you know," scoffed Mal. "I mean, you're going to sit there and lie to our faces that the person who gave you those bruises isn't the same person who cut you?" She gestured to his tan face mottled with yellow-green bruises that were starting to heal. He ignored her, turning away.

"You might as well get it clean so it doesn't get infected. I mean, first impressions are everything," pointed out Evie. "Do you want me to cover them up? I think I've got some concealer in my bag." Before her hand could reach into the bag, he held up a hand to stop her.

"I'm good. Don't worry about it," Drake assured her, looking out the rolled-up windows as they past by. He wanted them to see what they made him deal with, who they made him grow up with. He wanted them to feel guilty for stranding him there. "I'm good."

"Well, if you say so," Evie shrugged, taking something hard and blue from the tons of sweets placed before them. She bit into it, breaking off a piece.

"Jay, look!"

"Whoa!"

All five kids began to dive into their own activities, Jay and Carlos stuffing their faces with sweets, the girls talking. Drake just stared out the windows, taking in the Isle. There was the possibility he may never see it again. Even with the knowledge of their plan, he knew that the upside to this was that he was finally getting away from his father.

And when he looked at it like that, suddenly, heading to Auradon didn't seem like such a bad thing after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I do believe Drago would be abusive considering his history of torturing dragons into obedience. Also, yes, I included the book 'Isle of the Lost' a bit in this, but it'll only be mentioned briefly like this once.
> 
> P.S.: If there's any songs you want me to put in for Drake or Svanhild (since the movie is a musical after all), let me know! Until next time!


	3. Fiery Spirit

"Oh my gosh, they're coming!" Different variations of the statement were said throughout the dorm hallways and were already irritating Svanhild to a great extent.

She adjusted the leather gauntlets on her arms angrily. She'd just come back from a ride on Daybreak to clear her head. Since Ben had told her about Drago Bludvist's offspring coming to Auradon Prep, she kept clenching and unclenching her jaw, trying to keep calm. It would be hypocritical if she called Ben out on it, and it took everything in her not to give him an earful before taking off.

But she did admit that even _he_  probably deserved a chance at a decent life. After all, his father was Drago Bludvist... Just thinking the name made her shudder, remembering all the bad deeds he'd done. Who knows what he grew up with?

She still wore her riding outfit, her helmet sitting on her desk. The design was similar to her father's, but at the same time, fitted to her. If it were simply the other four, she might've been alright, even elated, to have new students in Auradon. After all, it would've been a nice change from all the princes and princess around here. Most of them were incredible stuck-up, another reason Svanhild barely got along with them.

She understood everyone couldn't live up to the wonders their parents once were, but seriously? Did no one ever teach them a thing about humility? You'd think they would all teach their kids that being royalty doesn't really mean anything.

The worst of them all was the girl across the hall from her, Audrey, the daughter of Aurora, A.K.A., Sleeping Beauty. She was the most pretentious person Svanhild had ever met, on Auradon  _or_  Berk. And she was dating Ben. He could do _way_  better in her opinion. Then again, she wouldn't be surprised if Audrey was only using Ben to get to the crown.

Everyone was running around, students, faculty and staff, trying to get everything prepared. Maybe Svanhild could've helped, but she didn't feel like making such a big deal over something so small. The new teens might be overwhelmed. It was all too over-the-top: a marching band practicing a new song specifically for when they came in, banners, streamers, posters, food. You would've thought they were holding a party, not a welcoming committee. Overall, it made Svanhild cringe.

As Svanhild grabbed her helmet, holding it under her arm, someone knocked on the door. She opened it up to see long white-blond hair in a braid and a pale face. "Oh, the great Prince Elias of Arendelle has chosen to grace me with his presence," said Svanhild in an overdramatic manner, one hand to her forehead.

"Do you have to do this whenever I come to visit you?" he laughed, shaking his head.

"No, but it's fun," she grinned, opening the door wider to let him in. He wore a royal blue cardigan over a white turtleneck, and jeans, pale blue gloves covering his hands. Unfortunately, (at least in his opinion) he'd inherited his mom's ability to create snow and ice. Another reason why Svanhild loved being around him. Even with the gloves, when he walked into a room, the temperature dropped, and the icy cold that followed him reminded her of home, where it snowed nine months of the year and hailed the other three.

Elias held a book of poems and short stories by Edgar Allan Poe in his hand that he placed on Svanhild's desk when he seated himself in a swivel chair. "So, we're getting some new foreign exchange students from the Isle," he said like it was the most casual thing in the world as he spun himself around. The viking girl shook her head in amusement at his childish antics. Anyone who saw Elias would think he was like his mother before the whole "freezing over Arendelle" thing: cold, serious, but in truth, he was the exact opposite.

With icy blue eyes, handsome features, and a sparkling white smile like freshly fallen snow, many of the princesses swooned over him. But he would only move further away the more they advanced on him. He insisted that he really wasn't interested in a relationship. It didn't seem all that appealing to him. While every other boy had been busy chasing after girls throughout the years, Elias would be more interested in the various books in the school library, sometimes staying in there for hours at a time after school. Once, when everyone thought he was missing, it turned out he was just in the back of the library, hidden behind a pile of books while so deeply emerged in one he hadn't heard anyone calling for him. In fact, the only time he'd gotten in trouble before meeting Svanhild was for staying after the library closed

And up until he met Svanhild and their friends, books had been his only ones. Other than the girls that tried to get with him even after they got the hint he wasn't interested, most people tended to stay away from him after he developed his powers. Besides, Elias got nervous when faced with social interaction in huge social settings. If he did make friends, it was usually only because that person talked to him first.

"Yeah, a few kids." Svanhild focused her attention on braiding and rebraiding her hair.

"I also heard you're giving Ben the silent treatment." Elias adopted on a more parenting tone. "You know he's just following your advice. That he's never going to make anyone happy so he might as well do it anyway if that's what he thinks is right to do."

"I know. I'm not saying that I'm not proud of him," retorted Svanhild, folding her arms across her chest, "but Drago Bludvist, really?" She paced back and forth, biting her lip. "That - that man is responsible for the death of my grandfather and has done things to dragons I can't even try to think about or I will get upset. That's not something I can just forget especially when I'm going to be going to school with someone who may be just like him!"

A heavy sigh left Elias' throat. "Look, I get it," he said. "If it were Hans' kid, I'd feel the same way. When you remember what their parents did to yours, it's easy to think you're automatically going to be enemies and there's no other way it can play out, but guess what?" He got up, picking back up his book. "That might not be the case. Maybe he's not like his dad. Maybe he's the opposite. Maybe it's specifically what you told Ben about Drago when he asked who your parents' villain was that he chose the kid. Maybe because he can guess that if he can do stuff like that to lovely creatures like dragons, there's no telling how he treated his own son."

At that, Svanhild turned around from her spot at the window to meet his gaze. She hadn't thought of it like that. In fact, when put into that perspective, it almost made sense. "I am not saying you have to make friends with him, I am not saying you have to love him, I am not saying you have to like him, heck, you don't even have to get to _know_  him, but at least give him a shot. Do not start hating him before he even steps out the limo just because you hate his dad. And most of all, do not make the assumption he will be just as bad until you've actually met him," Elias continued.

After a moment, Svanhild thought about it, then forced out through gritted teeth, "Gods, I hate when you're right."

Elias gave a small bow with a flourish. "As do I since I love to take any win I can when I barely have any," he smiled sheepishly, looking up. In response, Svanhild grabbed his lower head into a headlock and ruffled up his pale hair until it looked like a rooster's when she released him. He gave her a 'really?' look. "And there goes my win," he sighed, rushing over to the mirror to fix his hair. "It took me an hour to get it to stay down!"

"Ah, yes, it does love to defy gravity," Svanhild joked as she watched the prince frantically trying to smooth down his hair. She loved how the royals cared about their looks. Even Ben did, just a tiny bit. Probably because they all learned how much image and first impressions mattered. Meanwhile, in her family, except for her mother and grandmother, just about everyone had given up on trying to tame their wild hair. If her mother, Astrid Hofferson, hadn't done her best to teach her how to outsmart it, Svanhild would still be heading to class without bothering to try and brush her thick auburn curls.

With the royals, though, it did give her material for pranks. Like that time she once chopped Audrey's hair in her sleep after she made fun of her. That had been two years ago, but the girl still flinched whenever Svanhild picked up anything sharp. Oh, how she loved the fear that flashed in her eyes.

Alright, so maybe she was a little evil, too, but like she believed, not everyone was a hundred percent good or bad. It all came down to circumstance to which one a person learned towards. She, on the other hand, preferred to recognize herself as 50/50, since she could be pretty evil when she wanted to be to people she didn't like, and somewhat nice to those she did like.

Still, she wished people were more like her friends and less like Audrey. She would _not_ stop complaining about Maleficent's daughter. At least Svanhild had tried her hardest during her flight with Daybreak not to be judgmental about someone she had yet to meet.

"And now off we go to start a new chapter of our lives. We never turn back to the last chapter until we've at least seen this one through," Elias said, walking alongside Svanhild as the two went downstairs from her dorm. They heard the band playing loudly outside before it suddenly stopped. Well, it seems the newcomers arrived.

"You read too much," the viking girl replied, rolling her eyes at the analogy.

Elias scoffed. "Please. There's no such thing as 'reading too much.'"

The two were in no hurry since they knew Ben and Headmistress Fairy Godmother would be out to greet the villains' kids. When they did finally make it out into the open, everyone was back to going about their day while Ben and Audrey talked to the newbies. Three faces looked completely unamused at Ben's prepared speech and a girl with deep blue hair had her back turned as she seemed to be trying to coax out another person from the limo.

"Drake, come on, you can finish your book later. You already know how it ends!" she cried in exasperation.

"Alright, alright, coming." The voice sounded annoyed, followed by the snapping of a book.

Black shaggy hair was the first thing seen as the boy came out of the limo, then he lifted his head up revealing dark eyes. From first glance it was easy to tell he'd led a hard life. Even Audrey's tight, totally fake, smile faded when she saw him. The leather jacket he wore didn't cover up the scars on the boy's neck, nor his face, his olive complexion mottled with yellow-green bruises. Svanhild was afraid it was likely he'd have worse ones underneath his shirt. She told herself she wouldn't try to observe him up close; no one liked to be stared at.

And from first glance, she also knew this was Drago's son. She could see it in his eyes alone.

It was Ben who broke the silence. "You must be Drog. Welcome to--"

"Don't call me that," the boy cut him off, his eyes wiped of emotion, although Svanhild could've sworn he flinched the instant he heard Ben call him by his name. "Call me Drake."

Ben looked to the other kids standing before him. "Just go with it," Evie said. "He does that with everyone."

"Alright, Drake, forgive me for my mistake," Ben apologized awkwardly.

Svanhild slowly approached so as not to interrupt the conversation, dragging Elias along with her since he was now trying to hide from having to talk to new people.

"Who are they?" asked one boy with white hair and dark roots, chocolate covering his face. Just one look at his innocent face covered in sweets told her he at least was nothing like his parents. He had to be Cruella De Vil's son, wearing her colors and all.

"Oh, that's Svanhild Haddock, daughter of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, and that is Elias, son of Queen Elsa of Arendelle," said Ben as he turned around to see the two standing beside the statue of his father. Svanhild had her arms crossed over her chest and Elias held his Edgar Allan Poe book up before his face, hiding it from view as if hoping everyone would just ignore him. "Hey, guys, come over and introduce yourselves. Svan's been excited to have some new people around here," he explained to the newbies. It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't fully a lie either.

"I wouldn't mess with her if I were you. She can be rude, or, like, super mean to people she doesn't know," Audrey loudly whispered, obviously intending for Svanhild to hear. Instead of slapping her like she oh so wanted to do since they met, the viking girl just bit her lip and decided to be the bigger person.  _Take the high road. For now, at least,_ she thought to herself.

"So...like a villain?" the Bludvist boy asked with an brow raised, his eyes looking at her curiously. As she stood by Ben's side, she took in the appearances of the newcomers. The Evil Queen's daughter was beautiful, just like her mother was many years ago. After all, the poison apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The other girl, however, was definitely the daughter of the great and wicked dark fairy, Maleficent. They looked so much alike from when the villain was younger, with the pale skin and the green eyes. She was one of the worst villains heard of, at least to Auradon. Svanhild had heard of worse, but Maleficent was in the category of fairies you didn't want to anger.

The last one had to be Jafar's son. He wore a red beanie over his long hair and his arms were muscular. He had a face most girls would swoon over.

"No, she's still got a sweet heart," Ben chuckled, a smile on his face. "She and Audrey just don't get along well, that's all. And Elias is shy around...everyone he meets. So don't take it personally," Ben added, noticing how the boy was still hiding behind his book. "Svan, this is Jay, Carlos, Mal, Evie, and Drake." Svanhild gave a small wave, receiving a small smile from everyone but Mal and Drake.

"What is that _thing_  over there?" Carlos asked, pointing to the bushes nearby, and Audrey sighed when she realized she wasn't the center of attention anymore. Svanhild followed his gaze to see a pair of white ears and blue eyes hiding in the bushes.

"Daybreak, you never were good at hide and seek!" Svanhild laughed, holding out her hand, gesturing for the dragon to come toward her. Daybreak came out the bushes with a sheepish expression on her face, looking utterly adorable with those big eyes as she gave a toothless grin.

Rather than look afraid like Svanhild thought she would, Evie squealed. "Oh, it's so  _cute_! What is it?"

"This is Daybreak, my pet dragon. We have a lot of them back on my island, Berk," answered Svanhild, leaning down to pet Daybreak as she came over. "Well, not a lot of this type, of course. She's a Night Fury, which is as rare as they come. An albino, which of course is even rarer when most of them come in black." She got weird looks from all five kids. "Have you guys never seen a dragon before or something?" They all shook their heads. "Oh, well, Daybreak's sweet. She's a bit like a dog, or a cat. I don't know."

"Night Fury?" Drake Bludvist questioned, his head tilted slightly to the side. There was no menace in his eyes, simply curiosity and awe. Staring at him for a moment, Svanhild hesitantly nodded. "Amazing."

"We don't have a lot of animals on the Isle," Jay explained. "Not even dogs, which is good for Carlos here because he's absolutely terrified. Can I pet her?" he asked.

Svanhild scoffed, giving Jay an incredulous expression. "That's not up to me. That's up to her. Daybreak decides who she likes and doesn't like," she said. The dragon nodded in agreement. "So let her decide. If she doesn't like you, the worse she'll do is bite your hand off." Once again, the Fury nodded.

Ben, Audrey, and all four VKs started laughing, all obviously thinking she was making a joke. She wasn't. Drake seemed to be the only one with a serious face on. "You're joking, right?" he asked, though the expression on his face meant he already knew the answer.

Still, to keep the awkward atmosphere from getting more awkward, she said, "Of course I'm joking." When Jay stepped forward, over his shoulder, she mouthed ' _Not joking,'_ to Ben, shaking her head. His eyes instantly widened in alarm, probably imagining how Jay might be starting off his first day in Auradon with a trip to the hospital. But knowing her Daybreak, Svanhild knew anyone her dragon was alright with, she was alright with.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Svanhild stepped forward and told Jay to hold his hand out before approaching Daybreak. "It's all about earning her trust. Trust her and she'll trust you. Simple as that," she said, leading his hand until it was in front of Daybreak's face. She sniffed it for a few moments, staring at the hand, then pushed her nose up against it.

"Nice!" Jay grinned, bending down to be eye level with the Fury. He started scratching her behind the ears, something she obviously liked.

Seeing the situation under control, Ben tapped the older teen's shoulder. "Um, Svan, I'm on a tight schedule and since you don't seem to mind being around them, mind giving them a tour?" Ben asked.

Svanhild rolled her eyes but nodded. "No prob, Benny-boo. You go on to do your little princely duties." As Ben and Audrey both walked away, Svanhild realized she was being left alone (Elias didn't count until he managed to gather the courage to look one of them in the eye, something she couldn't see happening anytime soon) with five kids of the most evil villains (in Auradon's standards). And that it was actually pretty cool.

"Dude, what did you do?!" Jay's shout of surprise shocked Svanhild back to reality. She looked to see Daybreak laying on the floor, eyes closed as she purred in content. But she could see why they'd be worried with the way she'd always suddenly drop whenever someone scratched her under the chin.

"Did you kill it?" Carlos asked, gathering with the others to take in the sight. What actually did shock Svanhild however was that Drake was sitting beside Daybreak, looking around nervously and almost afraid.

"Hey, I didn't do anything!" he snapped, indignant. Svanhild couldn't help but laugh, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why is she laughing?" demanded Mal.

"Sorry, it's just that she does this whenever you scratch her under the chin in a certain spot," laughed Svanhild. Then she remembered who exactly Drake's father was and the amusement at the situation turned into amusement at the irony. "Most people don't get it right off the bat. Congratulations. Didn't expect you to get along with her so quickly." The others started laughing as Drake's cheeks went red.

"Hey, you've managed to do well with one picky lady," teased Jay, nudging Drake, "think I can do well with the other one?"

"Maybe in the alternate reality you obviously live in," Svanhild snorted.

Elias was still hiding behind his book when Mal stepped forward and pulled it down, forcing him to look at her. "Look, are you two going to give us a tour or are we just going to stand around here til we grow old?" she asked in annoyance, and it was clear she was the nastiest one of the group. His eyes were wide in alarm, and the poor thing looked absolutely frozen in fear.

Svanhild chuckled a wry laugh, then grabbed Mal's shoulder, turning her away from Elias. "Look here, Miss Auradon's Next Top Villain," she snapped, "just because you think you're all that does not mean you get to talk to him that way."

"Excuse me - "

"You're excused," Svanhild smirked, "all is forgiven. Just a fair warning, though, you don't have to like me, but show me a bit of respect and we'll get along just fine." Jay and Carlos both went 'ooh', and Svanhild turned back around to face them and continued in a more professional tone. "Now I'll show you all to your rooms and if anyone wants to go on the tour, I will gladly show you around while Eli watches Daybreak. Please and thank you."

"Ruthless," Drake spoke up, an eyebrow arched, a corner of his mouth twitching up. "I like it."

"Then you should see me on the debate team," Svanhild said, giving a little mock bow before snapping for the others to follow her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yes, they've finally met. I know it's not as grand as you probably thought it would be, but I tried. And poor Elias is probably going to be beating himself up later for being so terrified.


	4. Icy Heart

"So, princess, you're the one giving the tour?" Drake asked as the group walked inside the school. The auburn-haired girl shot him a look, folding her arms over her chest. Her outfit appeared rather fit for her, and he couldn't help wondering if she'd made it herself.

"I am _not_  a princess," she said indignantly. "I am the daughter of a chief. Big difference. That's like calling Mulan's daughter or Pocahontas' a princess."

"Whatever you say, princess," he snorted. The girl rolled her eyes. Svanhild, he thought she was called. Seemed rather unique among every other name out here, but then again so was his birth one.

She scoffed but retorted, "I am going to let that go for now. And yes, I am giving the tour if it weren't obvious, Bludvist."

Drake would have to say he was lying if he didn't say his heart hadn't been beating so abnormally fast when he and his sort-of-friends had arrived at the school. He recognized Ben instantly, albeit because of a picture Maleficent had pinned up of the royal family to throw darts at. Not the best way to recall someone if he could remember how he had landed the last dart right between the prince's eyes.

The amount of light shining down on Auradon had almost blinded him as soon as he stepped out. Apparently the barrier toned down the sun a little. All the stares directed at him even now were anything but friendly, except from maybe Ben. Everyone else _seemed_  kind. Too kind in Drake's opinion. Then again, he had spent the past seventeen years of his life on an island where kindness was the worst thing one could show. Unless they wanted something from you, almost no one treated anyone remotely _nice_.

Maybe that was why he distrusted it so much.

In fact, all he wanted to do while Ben was speaking was shrink away from how cheery the boy was. But if he did that, everyone would think him weak.

"So, you guys have a lot of magic here? Like wands and things like that?" asked Mal. Inwardly, Drake facepalmed. Could she be any more obvious? Wasn't she supposed to be the daughter of Maleficent? At the very least, shouldn't she be cunning and deceiving? Guess she hadn't gotten to that part of her lessons yet.

Svanhild shrugged, clearly still miffed of the way she'd spoken to her friend earlier. "I guess, but no one really uses it anymore. Most people in Auradon prefer to think of themselves as normal, but it's hard to see it like that when they're basically all kings and queens. Me on the other hand? Well, my family's never really needed magic or miracles to get by, so it never really mattered that much to me."

"And that guy back there? He's seriously the son of Elsa? The Snow Queen herself?" questioned Drake, shouldering his duffel bag. He didn't know much about Auradon with the basic education he had, but he did remember names with all the complaining villains did around the Isle. He should know; he was once forced to listen to Hannah; daughter of who had been previously known as Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, go on and on for an hour about the loss of her family's royal status because of the queen and her sister.

"Yeah, he's one of the kids here who are born with magic," explained Svanhild, her shoulders and arms moving of their own accord. Though Mal and Carlos seemed to understand, Evie and Jay gave her puzzled expressions. "You know, 'the cold never bothered me anyway' stuff, the whole shebang."

Finally nodding in understanding, Jay and Evie chorused in realization, "Ohhh."

"Yeah."

A boy from the marching band came downstairs, and Svanhild hurriedly greeted him as if she couldn't get away fast enough. "Doug, right?" she asked. "Um, Ben had to leave early. Where are their dorms?" As Doug explained, she turned to the group. "This is Doug, and Doug, this is Evie, Mal, Jay, Carlos, and...Drake, right?" She asked the question while locking her forest green eyes with his dark ones. He nodded.

"Hey, guys, I'm Dopey's son. As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy..." He trailed off when his eyes landed upon Evie. "Heigh ho."

"Evie, Evil Queen's daughter," flirted Evie, her voice low, already knowing the effect she had on the boy. She probably had some practice on the island, something Jay desperately needed. Doug came back to reality with a shake of his head.

"Okay, so, um, about your classes," he continued. "I, uh, put in your requirements already." He began to list the number of classes they would take while Evie and Mal looked over his shoulder. "History, Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet." He hesitated for a moment. "And...uh...Remedial Goodness 101."

At that last one, Drake's ears perked up. That couldn't possibly be an actual class for students. "Let me guess... new class?" asked Mal, voicing his thoughts. Doug nodded, answering Mal's  _question_.

"Are you serious?" Drake frowned. Wow, they already trusted them that little. True, not that he could blame them, but still, they could at least try to be less  _obvious_?

Oddly enough, Svanhild seemed to share his point of view. "Unfortunately yes," she said frankly with a sigh, hands resting on her hips. "Now up we go to the dorms. Doug says they're on the right," she added, stopping Mal with a hand on her chest as the purple-haired girl began to make her way up the left staircase. Mal sent her a glare, swiped her hand away, and went the opposite direction.

"I see the two of you are already getting along swell," commented Drake sarcastically under his breath to her on their way up.

"Don't start," Mal hissed.

They walked up to their dorms, the boys passing theirs first. Svanhild said something about showing the girls to theirs before coming back for them if they wanted to take the tour so they could get settled. As she walked away, Drake went to his dorm. Turns out Jay and Carlos were roommates, but he wasn't that surprised and definitely wouldn't be if the same went for Mal and Evie. He bet no one would exactly be interested in sharing a room with a child of a villain.

Even here, it was clear how different he was from everyone else. Everything was so neat, tidy, and clean, and it all was so alien to him. An actual room and bed instead of a spot on the floor in a cold corner? Having actual food and not scraps of a makeshift meal someone else had already eaten? He wasn't someone who thought that'd be possible for him.

He bit his lip and opened the door to his room, seeing it was big and cozy. After a moment of gaping at the size, Drake took a moment to notice there being another bed on the other side across from his, decorated to another person's liking. And how did he know which side was his? Probably because whoever his roommate had given it a few nice touches Drake actually didn't mind that much.

The biggest shock, though, had to be that he had a roommate at all. And that they seemed to anticipate him but made his side of the room as comfy as possible despite what little they knew about him. Why would an Auradon kid willingly share a room with _him_?

Drake's side of the room had a glittery stars hanging from the ceiling in strings, the ceiling painted blue. The bed was made tidily and a small black stuffed animal leaned against the pillow. When Drake picked it up, big, adorable green eyes stared out at him, and it had a little tail and wings, its ears perked atop its head. A corner of his mouth twitched up once he realized it was a dragon like Daybreak, but in black.

"Night Fury," he said under his breath. These were the creatures his dad had once been after. He couldn't help but wonder why his father would do that when they seemed so harmless.

Then his eyes drifted over to the other side of the room, and immediately guessed who his roommate was. On that side, there were still things hanging from strings, except these were sparkling snowflakes, the bedspread a pale blue. He caught a pair of black glasses on the top of a bookcase filled with various books.

Drake's eyes lit up. Books. He hadn't thought of the wider variety of those they'd probably have around here. Dropping his duffel bag on his bed, intending to pack later, he walked over to the bookcase, his gaze grazing over the titles on the spines.

"I see you're also a bookworm," said an amused voice behind him, and Drake turned to find Svanhild assessing the sight before her as she leaned against the doorway. "You and Elias will probably get along great. Lucky for you, we got a library." She smirked and jabbed a thumb over her shoulder.

"Great," Drake replied simply. "So, you still giving out that tour?"

"Also, lucky for you, I am," Svanhild snorted. "The others have their own little things to do so I guess it'll be just you and me." She turned back around, striding out the room. "Let's try not to scratch each other's eyes out, shall we?" she joked over her shoulder.

Without missing a beat, Drake retorted, "No promises."

* * *

"Alright, you've already been through the main entrance and have seen the front of the school so I might as well show you to the library, some classes, and the field," Svanhild told Drake, her long strides almost hard to keep up with. If he paused too long, she'd be halfway down the hall. Though she wasn't trying to leave him behind, she apparently also wasn't planning on waiting for him. "You think you might join a team or are sports not your thing? I mean, you don't look the part but your arms tell a different story."

He shrugged. "Teamwork overall isn't really my thing," he admitted as they first made their way into the library.

"Ah, well that's alright," Svanhild mumbled. "I get it. Ben's always asking me to join the tourney or fencing teams. I might try for fencing next year, but otherwise, I prefer to watch." She reached into her back pocket as she turned to face him. "If we could hurry this up, that would be great, 'cause I'd like to have this over by dinner time."

"No problem." Drake was already looking over some of the large arrays of books displayed on the shelves. It wasn't until he heard Carlos that he turned back around.

"Come on, Jay, give it back," he sighed. Jay was standing there with a smirk on his face behind Svanhild. The auburn-haired girl in question was glaring a hole into his forehead.

She bit her lip before questioning, "Did you seriously just steal my phone while it was still in my pocket?"

"Relax, princess, he was probably just borrowing it to check the time," said Drake, coming to the thief's rescue.

"I am  _not_  a princess!" Svanhild exclaimed, her fists clenched.

"Alright, princess, no need to get your tiara all messed up." Drake turned back to his books, not seeing the scathing look the viking girl sent his way. She gave a wry laugh before turning her attention to Jay.

"I think you know what I need you to do right now." She held out her hand. "Phone. Now," she ordered.

"Oh, ease up, Hildy. It's not stealing if you plan to give it back," pointed out Jay, reaching into his pocket and handing her a phone. She turned it on to look at the time and noticed the lock screen wasn't hers. It happened to be Chad Charming holding a picture of himself.

"What a narcissist," she scoffed.

"Huh?" Carlos looked over her shoulder to see what she was talking about.

"First of all, call me Hildy again and I'll punch you in the face. Second of all, this isn't mine, but you can keep it. Owner's kind of a jerk," said Svanhild as she and Jay did a quick trade-off for her phone. "I'm going to guess this is what you meant when you said you had other things to do? Steal other people's stuff?"

"Borrowing," corrected Jay.

"Whatever. Just don't steal from me. And if you don't want people to think poorly of you, don't steal stuff, especially stuff people are going to notice," Svanhild told them as she made her way forward. "I'm watching you, Sneak Thief."

"Oooh, you got told," whispered Carlos in a taunting tone. If Drake wanted to be honest, he'd always suspected those two might have a thing for each other. They teased each other a lot, but at the same time, whenever Jay tried to make himself seem cooler than he actually was, he'd occasionally glance over to the smaller boy as if trying to impress him. Even Drake had to admit the two would make a cute couple.

Walking up to Drake, Svanhild grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him with her. "Ignoring that incident," she said as she let go of his shirt, "this would be Auradon's one and only library. Need a book on anything: stories on the past princes and princesses or anything of the sort, come here. But most people who need help in the history of dragons come to me since the books can sometimes leave stuff out. Of course, I only help those who pay me unless you're a friend. Then you get a discount or a favor in exchange for a favor."

He frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Next time, don't do that," he grumbled, his mind flashing back to those moments with his father.

"I'll keep that in mind," she waved it off before continuing. "When it comes to the stories of the kings and queens, the books kinda take out all the feelings they felt for each so I wouldn't really bother with those. Of course, some of them never really had much romance to begin with; I mean, if Prince Charming loved Cinderella so much, you'd really think he'd remember her face instead of trying to find her through her feet. And there's already so many versions. The Brothers Grimms version, though, would have to be Elias' favorite because they're dark and don't make everything seem all sunshine and roses. Kinda like actual life instead of these happy and dancing fairytales." She went to another section, browsing through the books. "Um, if you're more into mythology like Hunter, which is reasonably with his family and all, being the son of Hercules, there's a bunch of books on that."

Following her, Drake lingered on a book about Norse mythology: the stories of the gods. He picked it out and flipped through the pages. Vivid, colorful pictures were on some of the pages depicting the tales told.

"Yeah, that's about the only book they have concerning  _my_  culture," Svanhild grinned, poking her head through an empty spot between books on one of the shelves, her arms leaned against the shelf. "Read that cover to cover. My parents told me those when I was a kid before I'd go to sleep at night so it was nice to have a small taste of home here." Drake gave her a weird look as he came up to her, leaning his arms on the shelf between them, copying her. "What? Surprised I have a childhood memory to share with you?"

"No, it's just that...bedtime stories aren't something we hear a lot. Not nice ones anyway," Drake stated. "Back on the Isle, the most we heard were stories of vengeance and death. Not exactly a good bedtime story."

But there was a slightly amused tone at the last sentence that made a smirk appear on Svanhild's face. "Oh, does the terrifying Drake Bludvist have a sense of humor? Can he smile, too?" she teased, resting her head in the palms of her hand.

"Don't count on it," Drake said in utter seriousness, although there was a small twitch in the corner of his mouth.

"Hmmm." Svanhild disappeared from behind the bookcase, walking around to stand next to him, tapping the book he'd been previously looking at. "Hopefully, that'll change then during your time here. Mind you, a few of these are still about vengeance and death so you'll probably feel right at home," she smirked. "Trust me, soon you'll be dying for a change with all the love stories here in Auradon. Raquel's father would love to tell you his at Family Day, which is coming up soon."

"Family Day." Drake let the words linger in his mouth, then quickly decided he didn't like the sound of it. "Something tells I'm already gonna hate it."

With a shrug, Svanhild moved on, shaking her head. Her playful attitude quickly disappeared. "I guess that's understandable. I mean, you have to face basically all the princes, princesses, and heroes the people on your island have despised for a long time. Now let's go. I still have a lot to show you." With that, they moved on, Drake glancing at the book in his hand before setting it back on the bookcase.

As Svanhild showed the classrooms, he tried to concentrate on the directions so he wouldn't get lost moving from class to class. She led him to the science labs, english room, and computer room. That one Drake made sure to remember since Carlos would be more interested in technology than anything else. After being shown all the, in his opinion,  _boring_ , classrooms, she took him out to the field. A group was practicing something that completely perplexed Drake until Svanhild explained the concept of tourney, and how they were just practicing for their next game. One glance at them playing and he'd already made up his mind about the sport.

As they took seats on the bleachers next to each other, they watched the team play for a bit. Glancing over at Svanhild, he noticed they were too close for his liking and awkwardly moved a few inches away. Somehow, from what he'd already seen of her, he could actually imagine her playing in that uniform rather than the traditional girls' role of playing cheerleader.

"You don't think you'd want to do something like that?" he asked her, and she shook her head, her auburn braid whipping back and forth at the motion. With the stiff way she was sitting, it was clear this was as awkward for her as it was for him. As if they suddenly remembered their roles concerning each other. That their parents were enemies, and that they were expected to feel the same towards each other.

"Nah. I, uh, don't exactly play well with others," she told him, giving a half-smile.

The two watched them practice for a while before Svanhild tentatively asked, "So, what did you guys like to do for fun on the Isle of the Lost?"

Drake shrugged. "We don't have much team sports or whatever fun activities Auradon does over here. It's mostly just a bunch of gang activity,"

"Oh. Well, how is it over there? I'm going to guess you guys don't have chocolate based on your friend's face in the car," she said, inspecting her nails.

"He's not my friend. He's my...sort-of-friends. Friends aren't a concept we have over on the Isle," Drake corrected, crossing his arms over his chest.

That earned a snort. "Sure. 'Cause a great, big, bad villain doesn't need a thing like friends," Svan joked.

"And second of all, of course not. We don't have anything sweet over there," he continued as if he hadn't heard her. Technically, they didn't have much of anything that wasn't trash, scraps that had been thrown away.

"Not even caramel?" Even as she said the question, the viking girl slipped out a wrapped sweet out of her pocket. "Most of the food back on my island is kinda tough and tasteless so I enjoy sweets every once in a while. Hate chocolate, though. Just can't stand it. But I do love caramel." She held it out to him. He stared at it for a moment, then slowly reached out for it.

Once it rested in the palm of his hand, he stared before unwrapping it and placing the unknown treat into his mouth. His eyes widened when the flavor hit him hard, the sugar suddenly making him realize what he'd been missing out on. "Do you have another?" he asked, his mouth still full from the caramel.

With a playful roll of her eyes, Svanhild reached into a pouch around her waist and pulled out three more wrapped candies. She handed them to Drake, who immediately put them in his pocket for later. "So that's what I looked like when I tasted something that was actually  _good_ ," she laughed. "My mother is a wonderful woman, but let me tell you, she can't cook to save her life! Hopefully, those will be enough til dinner. I always keep a small stash for whenever I'm a little down." She unwrapped a caramel herself and popped it into her mouth.

Drake gave a pitiful attempt at an actual smile, but failed, so he just stuck to the twitch at the corner of his mouth. "Thanks," he said.

"No problem." For some reason, her smile didn't bother him as much as everyone else's did. This one actually seemed genuine. "Sounds like you guys had it rough, but as my friend says, think of this as a new chapter of your story."

"Up until this point, I wasn't sure I'd get one," stated Drake honestly. Then he realized something. "Wait, princess, you're actually being nice to me."

"Stop calling me princess, Bludvist," Svanhild warned, that snappish tone creeping back into her voice.

He chose to ignore it. "Not gonna happen. So, princess, why are you being so nice all of a sudden? I mean, my dad isn't the nicest, warmest person" - that earned him a snort from his tour guide - "and he's caused your parents more than a good share of trouble."

After a moment of silence, she spoke up. "Well, I guess before, I was thinking about ditching you in the dangerous part of the castle," she said, which earned her a weird look, "but, hey, you wooed Daybreak, and I trust my dragon's judgement. Maybe you could try out dragon training. That might be your thing." She crossed her legs, resting her head on her propped up hand. "Plus, I don't know, you don't really seem that dangerous."

"I wouldn't say that," Drake muttered.

Svanhild scoffed, making him turn his head to look at her. "You know you don't have to put up that wicked, tough and callous act around me, right?" she said, turning her head, a brow raised. "You may have a bit of evil in your blood, but you just don't strike me as a true villain."

Drake's eyes narrowed. "And you know so much about me?" he sneered.

"I know enough to know you're not your father," she said, leaning towards him. "Just like I'm not mine. It's all about choice."

The two kept each other's gaze for a moment, checking who'd back down first. Then Drake turned away and climbed down the bleachers. "Well,  _my choice_  is to not spend another second here with you," he grumbled.

Svanhild stood up, hands on her hips. "You're gonna see I'm right!" she called after him. He blatantly ignored her as he walked off.

Back up in his dorm, he only opened the door when he heard a yell, a crash, and a thump. He went inside to see the familiar white-blond hair he saw before. Except now he wasn't hiding behind a book.

His roommate (Drake honestly never thought he'd say that) was sprawled on the floor, a stack of papers, a couple of books, and a chair toppled over with him. He looked up at Drake with a sheepish, terrified smile. At first, Drake thought it was just because of himself in general, but then he remembered how Ben said he was like this with everyone.

"Sorry," Elias said quietly, brushing himself off as he got up from the floor. "I startle easily. Same thing happened with Alex just yesterday." He picked up his things, setting the papers and books back on the desk and pulling the chair up. He bit his lip, Drake able to sense his anxiety from his spot a few feet away, but Elias held out his hand. "Elias of Arendelle. We met at the entrance."

"Yeah, you look different without a book over your face," stated Drake, shaking his hand with a firm grip. The prince gave another nervous grin.

"Yeah, well, I heard you were coming, and it does get a bit lonely over here," he shrugged. "A lot of people don't have roommates, but no one else was willing to step up, so I did." He seemed to gain a touch of confidence as he continued speaking. "Um, I - I wasn't sure what you'd like so I took a guess." He gestured to Drake's side of the room. "Of course, you can take anything you don't like down."

Eyes lingering on the decorations on his side of the room, Drake shook his head. "It's...nice. Nicer than my room back home," he said honestly if only to ease the boy's nerves. It seemed to work since Elias beamed brightly, revealing dazzling white teeth.

With his clear icy blue eyes, his near white hair, and the drastic drop in temperature whenever he was around, Drake was instantly reminded of the winter spirit his people called Jokul Frosti. Of course, he didn't truly believe in the old legend, but at times like these, he wondered. Then immediately pushed away the foolish idea. There was no such thing as the childish fairy tale.

"Great! I'm sure you'll like it here a lot!" Now that it was clear Drake wasn't going to bite his head off for anything, Elias appeared more like an energetic puppy. "Do you need help unpacking?"

"Nope. I'm pretty sure I've got it." As if to illustrate his point, Drake went over to his bed where his duffel bag still resided, unzipped it, and just turned it over. All his stuff came falling out onto the mattress. "See?"

"You can put your stuff over there," chuckled Elias, pointing him out to the dresser. Drake nodded gratefully and put his small stack of clothes where he'd indicated. "So, what type of books do you read?"

"I wouldn't know. Didn't have that many," shrugged Drake, nodding towards the small amount of books he had.

"You can borrow some of mine if you want." Already, Elias was at his bookcase. Hesitantly, he picked up the pair of glasses on top of one of the shelves and hid it in his pocket before he went along. "I've got a lot here, but this pretty much nothing compared to the library I have back home. I've got mystery, history, adventure, horror, fairytales, legends, mythology, and a romance book or two, I think." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

A corner of Drake's mouth twitched up. "Nice." Then another thought. "Does anyone have anything on dragons?"

"If you want info on that, you'll want to ask Svanhild," Elias snorted, sitting down on Drake's bed. He sorted through the little amount he had, stacking them on top of each other in alphabetical order. "But this one seems similar enough to what she has." He picked up a book with a torn cover with a symbol of a dragon.

Sitting beside him, Drake opened up the book to some illustrations of various types of dragons with information on them scribbled out. His father's way of training him to identify them. But from a dragon hunter's viewpoint. "Yeah, but I kinda want to see it more from the point of view of a trainer, not a hunter. New beginning and all that," he lied.

"Maybe you could ask her sometimes, then," Elias suggested, putting Drake's books on a nightstand beside his bed. "But you can keep this one if you need something new to read." The white-haired boy went back over to his collection and took out a book looking nearly as old as Drake's own. "I used to read this all the time when I was a kid. But I outgrew it. I mean, Jack Frost? Santa Clause? Sandman? The Easter Bunny? The _Tooth Fairy?_  Come on, there's no such thing." He scoffed at the last part as he handed it to Drake. "But there are some stories that kinda inspire hope, wonder, and you call me sappy, but you look like someone who needs some of those things. You can keep it."

"That looks like something you keep in one of those palace libraries," said Drake bluntly.

"Well, it was my mom's, but she said it came from my dad, and I haven't seen him since I was a kid," Elias scoffed, his expression turning bitter. "I don't really care much about it anymore. Or him for that matter."

Feeling an unknown emotion swell up in his chest, Drake frowned. Then that meaning came to mind. Sympathy. He remembered feeling the same way about his mom growing up, telling himself the same thing, though he knew the truth. "Then why do you keep it?"

The prince shrugged, eyes looking down on the floor. Snowflakes softly drifted to the floor inside the room. "I honestly don't know. But please take it. I don't have a use for it anymore, and if no one takes it, I'll just give it away anyway." The words didn't seem truthful, but Drake took it anyway, not wanting to push him.

"Have all those books done something to your head?" Drake asked, not entirely to be rude, but simply out of curiosity. That and to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, they made me way too emotional," answered Elias with a soft smile, running a hand through his hair. "On certain character deaths, I usually end up staying in bed and listening to sad music for the rest of the day. Besides, the villains in those books did way worse things."

Drake allowed himself a tiny chuckle as Elias laughed, leaving his book on the mattress. He picked up another from one of his shelves and laid down in bed, opening up the thick paperback book to the middle of the pages. On the title, it read, "Allegiant". Without looking up, Elias replied to an unsaid question, "It's the third book of a series called Divergent, it's the last book, which I've been waiting weeks to get, and I'm really looking forward to the end so don't interrupt me unless we're about to die."

Drake rolled his eyes playfully and picked up the book Elias had given him. The pages were yellowed with age, the illustrations detailed though in color as the book he looked at in the library. This seemed a bit like a children's book, but he still wanted to read what had once been such an important thing to what might be a new sort-of-friend. Maybe who might even be an actual _friend_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, this'll switch between their points of view and the next time we come back to Drake's, we'll be dealing with the whole "Attempted theft of the Wand go wrong" thing. And I hope you guys like the potential friendship between Elias and Drake. I live off comments, so please feed me. Love ya!


	5. Fiery Spirit

Svanhild was in the dining hall after leaving the field, grabbing something to eat for dinner. "Hey, Remy," she smiled at the friendly rat making his famous Ratatouille as she took her food.

Remy greeted her with a wave and a kind smile back as did the other rats in the kitchen. Svanhild took a salad, some meat, and a few dinner rolls. Alright, maybe more than a few, but the rolls were one of her favorites. They were always fresh with melted better on them, and just were so good.

Sitting down at a table, she noticed another girl sitting across from her. Though not her usual person to sit with, Raquel and Alex were late for dinner, and Elias had a habit of forgetting to eat if he were too absorbed in a book. While Svanhild ate, Mal and Evie came downstairs to grab something to eat, but then went back up to their dorms for the rest of the night.

"You're hanging out with the VKs now?" the girl across from her whispered to her, looking up from her plate. Her eyes were soft, kind, but fearful, like a little doe in headlights, unable to move or do anything to prevent herself from being killed. Svanhild was positive she saw the girl seldom times around the school. Other than that, the girl stayed in her dorm room with her roommate Beckett, a boy in her History class. She had bubblegum pink-dyed hair tied back with an equally pink bow, olive skin, and brown eyes.

"Not exactly, but why do you care?" Svanhild demanded in a normal voice.

"Sorry, I'm Nessa." The girl held out her hand. Svanhild didn't take it, but after a moment, shook it. "I'm just curious."

"Nice to meet you. Are you one of those who brags about who their parents are or something?" joked Svanhild with a raised brow.

But instead, Nessa looked extremely uncomfortable. "Not exactly," she said quietly, looking down at her meal, spearing a piece of meat with her fork. "But, hey, why should we let ourselves be defined by who our parents are?"

Before Svanhild could retort, Raquel popped up beside her, long blonde hair reaching to graze her ankles. Her brother Alex ran after her. Both were out of breath. "What did you two do?" Svanhild asked, looking between the twins. They looked almost nothing alike; Raquel had her mother's magic hair and looks, but her father's hazel eyes, and Alex had brown hair and his father's handsome looks, but his mother's vibrant jade green ones. One thing they did have in common, though, was their miraculous knack for trouble.

"The less you know, the less you can say," was Alex's only breathless reply.

"By that info alone, I've decided I don't want to know," sighed Svanhild, stuffing what was left of her dinner roll in her mouth.

"By the way, the Isle kids being here," Raquel started up once she caught her breath, sitting down beside the Nessa, stealing a dinner roll from Svanhild's plate, "that has got to be the most bizarre thing that's happened yet."

"Yeah, it's the most exciting thing that's happened to Auradon since...well...ever!" Alex agreed. He attempted to do the same as his sister, but Svanhild sharply glared at him the second his hand approached her plate, and he ripped it back before plopping beside his sister. "You have to admit it's amazing!"

"A lot of people would disagree with you," snorted Svanhild, her mouth still filled. He shrugged and got up to get his own plate of food.

"Well, that's because they're perfectly happy with their _boring_  happy-go-lucky lives here. Us? No way. We love a bit of mischief around here," laughed Raquel. "Besides, it was bound to happen eventually. If by chance they do end up being evil and take over the world, I also wouldn't be surprised."

At the reproachful look her auburn-haired friend gave her, Raquel amended, "Not because I think they don't have the capacity to be good or that this is a mistake. Just that, the kings and queens all think they can just rid the world of evil by locking away every baddie sound here, but that's not how things work."

Alex nodded, sitting back down. "Still, Jay, the new kid, seems pretty interesting. We bonded over stealing tips after he tried to lift my wallet." He said this casually as he ate, as if he made new friends everyday through this.

"Not to mention, baby brother's developed a little cwushy," Raquel teased in a mocking baby voice, snatching a dinner roll off _his_  plate now.

With a roll of his eyes, Alex groaned. "First of all," he said, holding up a finger, "you're older than me by four minutes. Second of all, it is not a crush."

"Oh, so you were just staring at her for ten minutes straight for no reason then?" the blonde asked, turning her head to stare at her brother, waving about a French fry in his face she'd taken from his dinner.

Alex's face went red. "We're done talking about this," he hissed, keeping his voice low.

"The Hel we are," snorted Svanhild. Nessa looked around awkwardly at the gossip going around her, and just stood up with her food to head up to her dorm. "Oh, Nessa!" Svanhild called after her. She turned around. "Tell Beckett he still owes me ten dollars!" The girl rolled her eyes but nodded as she walked off. "Now, back to business, who is Alex crushing on?"

"Well, you're the one that probably knows her," said Raquel. "I don't know her name, but Alex saw her around." First name that popped up in Svanhild's head was Evie, but was actually floored when Raquel listed off the characteristics of a rude VK she'd dealt with just a while ago. "Blue hair, pale skin, wears blue and red. Gorgeous. Easily earned the attention of a certain prince of Corona." She enunciated the last words as she leaned towards Alex who had his head buried in his hands.

Svanhild burst out in laughter, nearly choking on her salad. "Evie?" she asked, clearing her throat. "We're talking about Evie? Daughter of the Evil Queen?"

"Hmm, well, that was obvious, but explains a lot." Alex picked at his own salad, mumbling his words. "But I don't have a crush on her."

"Sure, you totally weren't staring at her across the hall for a whole ten minutes until I had to yank you inside our dorm," his sister scoffed. She turned to Svanhild and pointed to her twin. "I could practically see Cupid's arrow hit him," she joked.

"Can we talk about something else?" Alex exclaimed, throwing up his arms in defeat.

"Ooh, I can tell were hitting a nerve." Raquel nudged him with a grin on her face. "What do you think, Svan?"

The viking girl rolled her eyes with a smirk as she got up, having finished her meal. "I think  _you_ \--" she pointed at Alex-- "need to get your head straight, and _you_ \--" she pointed at Raquel-- "need to stop butting into everyone's business."

"But that's the only fun I get!" the blonde whined.

Svanhild only raised an eyebrow at her before going off to snag some extra desserts, mostly for Elias. She knew how much he loved his chocolate. It was a family thing. She knew he'd probably be horrified by the fact that none of the Isle kids had ever tasted chocolate. He could hardly live without it.

In fact, she just couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she handed him the chocolate cake. So with that, she made her way upstairs to his dorm and knocked but no one answered. She tried the knob and saw the door was unlocked so hopefully she wouldn't be walking in on anything. Deciding to just open the door in case Elias wasn't there and in the library, she planned to leave it for him since she heard he was reading Allegiant. She'd peeked on the ending once out of curiosity and knew he was in to have his heart broken, which was why she wouldn't be surprised if he needed a little pick-me-up by the time he came back.

But instead, Elias was laying on his bed, engrossed in his book. Judging from the amount of pages left, he was almost done. Despite his new roommate's side of the dorm looking like he'd been introduced to it already, no one was there.

"Hey, Eli, I got your favorite," Svanhild said, interrupting him just as he was about to turn the page. His head shot up, his eyes zoning in on the chocolate cake in her hands as she set it on his nightstand.

"Ooh, I love you," he grinned, grabbing it. "You're too good to me sometimes." Svanhild rolled her eyes, sitting when beside him on his bed. "By the way, if you're here for Drake, I think he left a few minutes ago, but I'm not sure."

"I'm not here for Drake," she scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. "Why would you think that?"

With a scoff, Elias actually glanced up from his book. "You really think I haven't read enough books to tell when an OTP is forming?"

Svanhild's eyebrows raised. "OTP? What in Thor's name does that mean?"

As if just realizing who he was talking to, Elias sheepishly smiled. He shrugged. "Um, it's fan talk. You wouldn't get it."

"You're right. I don't. So how's the book going?" she asked, gesturing towards it, which was still in his hands. He was still subtly trying to read with one hand while eating his cake.

"Lot of stuff's happening. Tris is about to head into a  _very_  dangerous situation involving death serum," Elias mumbled without looking up from the pages. "I'm only a few chapters away from the end and I don't like where this is going."

"Ah." Svanhild understood that when he was at this point, he would rather have answers than conversation. "Well, I'll leave you alone to find out. It'll really tear your heart out." As she walked away, a smirk on her face, Elias' eyes widened, looking as if she'd just confirmed his worst fears.

Walking down the hall to her dorm, Svanhild stopped once she heard Mal's voice say, "You could steal all this, or just leave all this here and pick it up when we take over the world."

She peeked into Carlos and Jay's room to see Mal tossing Chad's phone onto the bed as she stared at everything Jay had stolen today. Svanhild couldn't begin to guess how he managed to get all that stuff. Where was he even keeping everything? She probably didn't want to know.

"You sound just like your mom," said Evie.

Mal put a hand over her chest and beamed. "Thank you!"

Drake sat on what Svanhild guessed was Carlos' bed, his nose in a book. From this angle, she couldn't see the title that well. "She didn't mean that as a compliment," he snorted, his eyes peering over the book at Mal.

"You do it your way, I'll do it mine," Jay said.

"Die, suckers!" Carlos yelled at the video game he was playing. "Jay, come check this thing out, man, it's awesome!"

Svanhild shook her head, knowing it was wrong to eavesdrop, and made to leave. But when she tried to close the door, it creaked, selling her out.  _Crap_ , she thought.

Everyone was looking at her now and it was way too late to just walk away. "I don't mean to pry, but next time you plot, do yourselves a favor and close the door," she said simply instead,  _then_  walked away. She was halfway to her dorm by the time she heard someone running after her.

"Princess! Princess!" The nickname alone gave away who it was. Turning around to see Drake slightly out of breath, Svanhild raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Exactly how much did you hear?" he asked.

"I thought I already told you. Mal talked about taking over the world and all that," she said. "Didn't like her that much anyway."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He stepped in front of her as she turned around to leave both him and the conversation behind. "Look, relax, Mal was only joking. She's, um, having a hard time kicking old habits, but this place will get to her eventually."

"I'm sure she is," scoffed Svanhild. He may have been telling the truth for all she knew. There was nothing exactly suspicious about his explanation, but she had a strong feeling he was lying through his teeth. "But it looks like I need to keep a closer eye on your friends than I thought." She grinned to let him know she was kidding. "Still, tell your friends to close their doors. Someone else could've heard who wasn't so ready to accept your bald-faced lie."

She didn't stay behind to see his eyes widen before heading to her room. Besides, if they were plotting something, it wasn't like they'd  _actually_  get away with it. Even if they did manage to take over the world, maybe things would change, but it was most likely due to end the same way it always ended. To be honest, it was late, and she just couldn't find it in her to care.

Once she entered her room, she sat herself down on her work desk. She shoved a few of her inventions aside and set out her sketchbook. With no one around, she was able to enjoy a favorite pastime of hers: drawing. Sometimes it was just blueprints for her next invention on the blank pages, and sometimes it was actually art. She'd seen her father's artwork before so she had to have gotten it from him since her mother could hardly draw in a straight line correctly. Her current muse for today's drawings were obviously the Isle kids, but of course, their outfits alone took a lot of time to draw with all the details to get right.

She found herself faltering when she began to sketch Drake because that meant remembering the scars and bruises she'd seen in exact detail. It made her uncomfortable knowing that he hadn't gotten any in a fight or battle. Of course, back home, most people would be quite impressed by the amount of scars he had. They thought scars were cool, because they represented the type of warrior you were, to the point where some of the kids (her younger brother included) felt excited at the concept of earning a few nasty scars. "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it," as her mother had once said.

But Svanhild felt kind of bad since it was clear he hadn't chosen who gave him those scars, or even getting them in the first place. She wasn't the type of person who believed in happy endings and love at first sight or any other make-believe ideas Auradonians had, but she did believe that there were people who didn't deserve what they got in life, whether it was that they were rewarded even when they weren't the best people, or that fate screwed them over despite being an essentially good person. And upon meeting him, she was starting to get that Drake, among the other VKs, were one of those people.

It wasn't fair. None of it.

But things being unfair for people on the other side of the tracks wasn't uncommon in Auradon. Just the concept alone of forcing children to grow up on the Isle of the Lost with no but villains as company, yet blame _them_  for being who they are was completely unfair since it wasn't their fault in the first place.

Noticing her hand starting to shake slightly at the thoughts swirling in her mind, Svanhild took a deep breath to clear her mind, then continued drawing. The pose she chose for him was the one she'd seen him with when she first set eyes on him: casual yet guarded, holding his duffel bag as if he expected someone to try and snatch it out of his grasp. That didn't surprise her, though, considering the place they grew up in. His eyes were dark brown, wary and guarded like everything his very posture said, and thinking about it, Svanhild noticed that she didn't see Drago Bludvist when she looked at them. She just saw Drake.

Thankfully, she was without a roommate to share her dorm with so she could stay up without having to worry about someone randomly turning off the lights or trying to engage her in conversation while working. If she did, though, either she'd drive them crazy or they'd drive her crazy. That was the way it went with her brothers until they got their own rooms. So far, she'd been glad she no longer had to share a room after spending so long sharing with those two.

Svanhild was still drawing away when she heard Audrey giggle from the other side of her door. Inwardly, she groaned. The princess was laughing like an idiot, loud enough to hear and Svanhild couldn't tell if it was intentional or not. If this was from another date with Ben, she couldn't do anything but grin and bear it. As much as she hated Audrey, she liked seeing Ben in love. Maybe she hadn't the faintest idea how he fell for her, but who was she to judge? Maybe he brought the best out of her or something.

Letting out a small huff, Svanhild tried not to let the noise get to her and concentrate on her sketching. Then she heard a boy's voice trying to shush her, saying something in a soft tone. On any other occasion, she would've secured a pillow over her ears before going back to work. But the boys voice certainly didn't sound like Ben's, and her curiosity got the best of her.

With another huff at giving into that nosey part of her, she placed her pencil down to mark her place in her sketchbook as she quietly made her way over to her door. She placed one ear against the wood to listen more closely.

"Don't worry," Audrey said. "I know she won't show Ben the text messages. As long as she's on the cheer team, she won't want to do anything to risk getting kicked off." Svanhild's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Everything will be okay."

Her eyes widened with sudden realization as Svanhild heard the other boy speak up. "Good. If she can't get away with her evil plan, my relationship with Raquel won't be ruined."  _Chad_. Svanhild's friend, Raquel's boyfriend was  _cheating_  on her. Not to mention Audrey was cheating on Ben. But that was something she'd deal with later. First, Chad.

_Tikens_ _sønn_ , Svanhild thought. She'd always thought Chad was bad news but held her tongue since it made her friend happy. That and knowing that no matter how many times she tried to convince her not to, Raquel had fallen in love with him. And she'd be heartbroken when she found out.

"Well, this has been a very interesting discovery," Svanhild said under her breath as she moved away from the door. A discovery she was certainly going to share with her friend first thing in the morning.


	6. Icy Heart

Carlos was playing a video game when Drake opened the door, looking around at the room he shared with Jay.

"Jay, what are you doing?" asked Mal, looking over the thief's shoulder at all he'd collected piled on his bed: Watches, phones, and all sorts of other precious things.

"It's called stealing. It's like buying whatever I want. Only it's free." With a grin, Jay pulled out a stolen laptop.

"Yeah, and it's gonna get you in trouble," Drake scoffed, sitting down on Carlos' bed. He opened up his book, his eyes skimming over the pages.

"Okay," Mal said, picking up a phone from Jay's pile of loot, "so you could steal all this, or just leave all this here and pick it up when we take over the world!" She tossed the phone back onto the bed, staring at everything.

"You sound just like your mom," said Evie.

Mal put a hand over her chest and beamed. "Thank you!"

"She didn't mean that as a compliment," Drake snorted, peeking over his book at Mal. She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"You do it your way, I'll do it mine," Jay said.

"Die, suckers!" Carlos yelled at the video game he was playing. "Jay, come check this thing out, man, it's awesome!"

Jay took the game controllers from Carlos and started playing. Just as he started getting into it, the door creaked, and everyone looked over to see a pair of forest green eyes and auburn hair.  _Svanhild_.

"I don't mean to pry, but next time you plot, do yourselves a favor and close the door," she said casually before walking away.

"Go after her," hissed Mal once she was gone.

"Why me?" Drake snapped.

"You know her most," Evie agreed, gesturing to the door. Drake huffed, but ran out the door after the girl.

She was already a good distance away, but he managed to catch up with her. After their brief conversation, Drake was surprised. Svanhild hadn't seemed alarmed in any way when they talked of what Mal said about taking over the world; she had actually appeared amused. Who else would react that way after hearing something like that? He had half-expected her to take it the wrong way and tell everyone, but here she was joking about it.

As she closed the door to her dorm, he gave a slight sigh of relief. That was one bullet dodged. He went back to his group of sort-of-friends to see them gathered around Evie at the table. She had pulled out a small handheld mirror. Drake stood in the doorway, feeling excluded. Back on the Isle, at first, he had felt as if he were an outcast, even though he was infamous, because he didn't  _want_  to be evil. He never really wanted to be; he just eventually accepted it, that it was the only thing he was meant for. After accepting it, he began to feel like he belonged. But here, that feeling came again - he didn't belong.

Even among the group, he sometimes felt like he was intruding, the odd one out. His motivations were different from the others, and wrong when he knew what they were there for. They wanted to make their parents proud, and in a way, Drake wanted that too, but a small part of him also hoped they'd fail just a tiny bit so his father would stay on the Isle, putting an ocean's distance between him and Drake. That would help him sleep a little easier knowing that.

"Mirror mirror on the - in my hand," Evie began clumsily, "where is Fairy Godmother's wand...stand?"

The mirror's surface shimmered and showed them a glittering wand floating in a blue force field. "There it is!" cried Evie. Drake went over to her and looked over her shoulder at the image in the mirror.

"Zoom out," Carlos said.

"Magic mirror, not so close," Evie whispered to the mirror. Suddenly, they got a view of the whole world. "Closer...closer...closer...." With each time, the image zoomed in a bit more.

"Can I go back to my game? I'm on level three." Carlos started to leave, but then Drake yelled, "Stop!" when he saw the mirror was finally at the right image.

"It's in a museum," Mal stated, staring at the mirror showing a sign outside a large building. "Do we know where that is?"

Carlos typed in the name of the museum on a computer. "2.3 miles from here." He showed them all the computer screen. Mal grinned.

Drake poked his head out into the corridor, looking around. No one was there. "All clear," Drake called over his shoulder.

Mal went out into the halls with Drake following after. "Come on!" she hissed. Four of them ran down the hall before Mal realized Carlos was missing. "Carlos!" she whisper-shouted.

"Coming!" The De Vil boy raced down the corridor after them, pulling on his jacket.

Soon, they made it to the museum and ran up the steps. Mal turned to Evie. "Check your mirror." 

Evie frowned. "Is my mascara smudged?"

Drake rolled his eyes as he stopped beside her to say, "Yeah, do that, Blueberry, and while you're at it, try finding us _the wand!_ " Sarcasm was heard loud and clear in his voice.

"Sure. This way." Taking the lead, Evie led them around the building into a back entrance.

Inside, they looked through the glass doors to see the infamous spinning wheel Aurora had pricked her finger upon so long ago, and the museum security guard watching the cameras trained on various important relics - the Enchanted Rose in its glass jar, the magic lamp, King Triton's Trident, and many more.

The security guard's chair squeaked as he turned around, and all five descendants ducked out of the way so they wouldn't get caught. When Mal was confident enough to peek back in, he was still there but turned away from the window once again.

Drake found himself staring at a sign that read "Maleficent's spinning Wheel."

"Oh, would you look at that, even here, your mom's everywhere," Drake mumbled, earning a dirty look from the purple-haired girl.

"That's your mom's spinning wheel?" Jay asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, it's kinda dorky," Carlos snickered.

"It's magic. It doesn't have to  _look_  scary," Mal said. She got out her spell book and recited an incantation under her breath. "Magic spindle, do not linger, make my victim prick her finger."

All that happened was that the guard's chair moved towards the spindle. Otherwise, nothing.

Jay shook his head. "Impressive."

"I got chills," said Carlos.

"Okay, you know what?" Mal snapped. "Prick the finger, prick it deep, send my enemy off to sleep."

Eyes widening, Drake watched the security guard rise from his seat. He walked around the spinning wheel, stopping to observe it. He reached out to touch the needle.

And pricked his finger.

Everyone watched in shock as the guard stretched and yawned, then laid down on the dais beside the spinning wheel and fell into a deep sleep. Mal grinned while Drake still couldn't help but stare in shock.

"Not so dorky now, huh?" she taunted. She tried the handle only to find it locked.

"Not so cocky now, huh?" Drake shot back.

"Stand back," grinned Jay. He backed up to get a running start.

"Make it easy, make it quick, open up without a kick." Mal recited the spell quickly, and tried the lock again, opening it up with ease just as Jay came charging through. He fell and landed on his behind, causing the girls to laugh and Drake to snicker as they walked past.

Carlos stopped, though, and helped Jay up from the floor. "Come on, Jay."

Still, Jay shoved him off, and said, "I'm good."

"Shhh!" Mal hissed as they passed the sleeping guard.

Drake couldn't help glancing at all the relics they passed by: Snow White's wedding dress, Lancelot's armor, Excalibur, and other things. He almost stopped at an exhibit displaying a sarcophagus, but had to hurry ahead to keep up.

They ran down a hall and up a staircase and on the way, Drake saw a sign that said they were headed into the "Gallery of Villains." He paused a moment, then continued after the others. But they all stopped abruptly when they met the sight of a pair of familiar horns, and they went pale as they saw the statue of Maleficent staring at them.

Looking down at the plaque, Drake barely contained a sigh of relief knowing the real Maleficent was still on the Isle. They were in the gallery now, and surrounded by the statues of the most infamous of them all.

Maleficent, Cruella De Vil, Jafar, the Evil Queen. All had statues.

Then Drake saw something even scarier. It was in the back of the room, easily visible between Cruella and Maleficent's statues from this angle. It was a statue of his own father.

Shivers were sent down his spine at the sight. Drago Bludvist. A twisted smirk was on his face, the intensity of his stare terrifying to someone who was normally on the other end of it. He seemed almost alive. Wielding his staff, Drago looked terrifying to Drake by just standing there with it in his hands, remembering every time he felt that staff.

Unable to take his eyes off the statue, Drake took a shaky breath and bit his lip. Finally, he managed to tear away his gaze and tried to look anywhere but his father's cold gaze.

"Mommy?" Evie whispered, staring up at the statue of the Evil Queen, framed by the outline of her enchanted mirror while holding a poison apple high in the air.

Jay shook his head, staring at the frightening statue of his father. Softly, he murmured, "Killer."

Carlos swallowed nervously as he looked up at the statue of Cruella chasing 99 puppies across a bridge, draped in a long coat of various furs. "I'll never forget Mother's Day again," he promised himself quietly.

After a long moment, Jay broke the silence between the VKs. "Wand's not here. Let's bounce," he said. He stepped back and the other's followed except for Mal.

"Mal, come on," Drake placed a hand on her shoulder before leaving, seeing her still standing before the statue of her mother. Despite himself, Drake found his eyes returning to the statue of Drago Bludvist.  _Is that who I want to be?_  he asked himself, then shook his head and ran off to join the others.

After a lot of looking, Evie found the room with the magic wand out on display. Upon seeing it, Drake quickly ordered Evie to go get Mal. She nodded and ran out to retrieve Mal from the room she never left. Minutes later, she ran back in with Mal tagging behind her.

"There it is," Drake stated, pointing to the wand, walking around the perimeter of the railing, carefully observing it. There was probably an alarm; nothing was ever this easy. Mal stepped closer to the wand, leaning against the railing, so close to the wand she could just reach out and snatch it. The others beside the two came closer, exchanging unsure glances. "If you're gonna get it, see if there's a spell to disable the force field," Drake whispered to Mal. "It might be triggered."

She nodded, but right when she pulled out her spell book to search up one,  _someone_  decided to be a little reckless.

With a 'what-the-hell' shrug, Jay swiftly bent down under the railing. Drake's eyes widened. "Don't you dare!" he hissed. Jay didn't listen, neither to him nor Mal's protests, and reached forward to take the wand. The instant his hand touched the force field, he shot backwards and loud sirens rang through the museum.

"A force field  _and_  a siren?!" Carlos exclaimed as they scattered, running down the stairs.

"That's just a little excessive!" Jay agreed.

"Next time, listen to me!" Drake yelled at him.

The phone rang and Carlos quickly ran to it, turning off the alarm. He spoke on the phone, making stuff up, saying it was only a false alarm. Once he was sure it was all cleared up and they believed his lie, he hung up.

Noticing he wasn't with them and was still inside, Evie called out, "Carlos!"

"You're welcome," Carlos casually said as he jogged out after them.

"Way to go, Jay! Now we have to go to school tomorrow!" Mal complained as they ran back to their dorms.

* * *

"If someone hands you a crying baby, do you A) Curse it, B) Lock it in a tower, C) Give it a bottle, or D) Carve out its heart?" Fairy Godmother asked, pointing at the blackboard with her stick as she listed each choice. The five sat in the middle of the class, the girls sitting at one table and the boys sitting at another. Drake sat behind Jay and Carlos, tapping his pencil against his notebook in utter boredom.

First thing in the morning, his roommate had dragged him out of bed in the morning, him having trouble waking up from his new sleeping arrangement, and when still he had trouble staying up, Elias had practically poured a cup of coffee down his throat. Needless to say, Drake was well awake now. In time to get to his Remedial Goodness class. And shocker, they were the only ones in the room.

Mal was the only one actually answering the questions correctly, and it was amusing watching the others struggle. Of course, Drake knew the answers, but just didn't feel like doing it. All of them were quite obvious and they actually felt a bit insulting that the Fairy Godmother herself thought they were that bad.

After the past twenty minutes, she seemed to have enough of him not participating in class and called him out. "Mr. Bludvist, do you happen to know the answer?" she questioned him.

Giving an exasperated sigh, Drake stated in a bored tone, "If someone hands you a crying baby, the answer is 'C,' give it a bottle."

"Very good," the Fairy Godmother beamed as if he were a kindergartner who deserved a gold star. Drake guessed she meant well, and so bit back a sarcastic comment. "Next one."

"You guys are on fire," Carlos told Mal and Drake.

"It's easy. Just pick the one that doesn't sound like any fun," Mal retorted like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," Jay, Evie, and Carlos all said at the same time.

A girl with short, dark brown hair tucked back in a blue headband walked past, clutching a folder, squeaking as she passed by them. "Hello, dear one," Fairy Godmother greeted her, though clearly the girl did not like the attention of being the only other student in the room.

"You need to sign an early dismissal for the coronation," the girl informed her in a barely audible tone, glancing back at the VKs nervously.

As Fairy Godmother nodded, taking the folder from her hands, she said, "Everyone here remembers my daughter Jane?"

"Mom, no -"

"Everyone, this is my daughter Jane. Jane, this is everyone."

"Hi," Jane mumbled. In return, she got intimidating and bored stares from everyone else in the room. However, Drake found himself reminded of Elias and his shyness, and gave a small wave to ease her nerves. "That's okay. Don't mind me. As you were." She bowed oddly before scurrying down the aisle again, giving another little squeak as she rushed by Mal, Evie, Carlos, Jay, and Drake once again.

Feeling his spirits drop, Drake realized she was judgmental of them too, except on a whole different level. He shouldn't be upset; making people fear him and run away should have made him happy like it would any other of his sort-of-friends. But it stung remembering that all most of the people on Auradon saw when they looked at them were their parents' evil deeds. If they were going to be scared of him, he wanted it to be because of something  _he_  did, not his dad.

"Alright, let's continue." Fairy Godmother started up again, reading the next question out loud. "You find a vial of poison. Do you A) Put it in the king's wine, B) Paint it on an apple, or C) Turn it over to the proper authorities?" This time, everyone but Mal and Drake put their hands up. Jay and Carlos even began fighting over who got to answer the question first.

Jay held down Carlos' arm so he couldn't answer the question, and Fairy Godmother called on Jay. "C, you turn it over to the proper authorities," he said, dropping his friend's arm.

"I was going to say that," Carlos pouted.

"Oh, but I said it first," Jay mocked in a baby voice, placing him in a headlock and giving him a noogie.

"Boys." Fairy Godmother tapped her pointing stick on the podium to get the two's attention as Jay was now on top of Carlos. "Boys!" They both looked at her as Drake stared straight ahead, completely unamused. "I am going to encourage you to use that energy on the tourney field."

"Oh, no, that's okay. Whatever that is, we'll - we'll pass," Carlos said, both boys looking confused on the subject of what tourney was. Though Drake was tempted to explain, he was also still upset with Jay for what had happened last night.

* * *

Some time later, Drake sat on the bleachers where he and Svanhild had sat before to watch the tourney team practice. Turns out Jay and Carlos were trying out for the team after all, so he had come to see how it went.

"Hey." Drake turned his head to see Svanhild sitting down beside him, her auburn hair once again in a simple long ponytail, a pair of goggles resting atop her head. Oddly enough, they made her look a bit...cute. From this angle he could see a dragon earring snaking up and around her right ear. This time she wore a brown shirt with sleeves that stopped at the elbows and khaki leather pants, her brown leather fur boots making a soft noise as she found an empty spot on the bleachers.

"Hey," he greeted simply.

"Here to watch your friends?" she asked, staring out at the field.

"Well, I know I'm not here to watch the cheerleaders," snorted Drake, raising a brow. "You?"

"I'm actually here to watch both." She pointed to the cheerleaders walking out onto the field from the locker rooms. "See, my friend Alex is on the team. He joined last year, and some of the boys still make fun of him for it so I come to his practice to show my support. That and to remind the boys that I'm right here to punch their stupid faces if they start bullying him." After a moment, Drake saw what she meant when he saw a boy with short brown hair come onto the field wearing a cheer uniform bearing the same colors as the other girls. "Yeah, he's not hard to miss. Only other boy on the team besides Kai."

"Who's Kai?" The question had barely left his mouth before Svanhild gently grabbed his chin and turned his head to see another boy with dark skin and unruly curls in a bun standing in the same uniform as Alex. Only difference was the entrance. While Alex walked, Kai did a series of backflips and cartwheels before stopping at the cheerleading squad captain Audrey. "Ah, that's Kai."

"Yeah, his boyfriend Hunter's the one on the tourney team," Svanhild laughed. "Kai likes to give something to entertain him. Plus, he likes to rub it in Audrey's face that for all the perfect things she brags about herself, she can't do a proper cartwheel to save her life." She unwrapped a piece of caramel and popped it into her mouth.

"So your friends are interested in being out on the field, but not you?" Drake inquired, leaning towards her, propping his head up with one hand.

She mirrored him, leaning forward with a smirk. "Like I said, I don't play well with others." At that, the corner of Drake's mouth twitched up. Svanhild narrowed her eyes, her smirk falling from her face, and for a moment, he worried he did something wrong. Then she said, "Oh, come on." She poked him softly in the shoulder. "Let's see a smile. Just a little one."

Drake looked down on the floor and rubbed the back of his neck, self-conscious. Over here, he'd known smiling was a thing, but he'd never really had much to smile about. "Nah, I'm good," he said.

Tilting her head, Svanhild was still staring at him, patiently waiting for him to smile at her, and so he made another small attempt, turning up one corner of his mouth. It didn't reach his eyes. Not even close.

"That is the saddest smile I've ever seen," she snorted, lifting an eyebrows.

"Well, what do you expect me to smile about?" Drake shot back with a more than healthy dose of sass.

The viking girl looked at the ground, then looked back up with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Somehow, he already knew he didn't like that look. "I could tickle you," she shrugged, inspecting her nails.

Drake began scooting away from her. "Uhh, no thanks," he said, backing up. Her smirk only grew into a grin as she came closer.

"Are you ticklish?" Svanhild asked. Drake almost smiled a little. The thought was hilarious. No one had ever wanted to make him laugh before.

"Are  _you_?" he threatened, but then her hands came out of nowhere and attacked his chest. Drake drew back, but before he knew what was happening, he was actually laughing. "No, Stop!" He fought her the best he could, trying to get away, but she's tickling his sides now, and he thought he might end up falling off the bleachers yet he couldn't remember ever laughing this hard in his life.

From down on the field, Alex noticed the two laughing together and glanced at Jay from across the field, seeing him triumphant at joining the team. The coach had just told him about seeing him later to show him the rules. Apparently, both of their friends who had come to watch and show support had been too preoccupied to watch, and Alex couldn't find it in him to be mad. He and Jay caught each other's eyes, and Alex pointed up at Svanhild and Drake laughing together before creating a heart with his hands. Jay followed his gaze, then turned back to Alex and nodded in agreement. They shared a look with each other before simultaneously mouthing ' _crushing_.'

Drake was finally grinning, finally laughing, and he could hear Svanhild laughing, too, but it spotted abruptly. He looked at her and noticed the smile had slipped right off her face as she stared at his. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just your eyes," she said quietly, tilting her head in that way like a curious puppy. "They make me sad."

Drake's face fell, and after a small silence, he questioned, "What's wrong with them?"

"The light. No matter how much I make you laugh, they don't seem to have any...light or joy," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. Svanhild pulled her goggles over her eyes, the lenses tinted so Drake couldn't see the emotions underneath. She cleared her throat suddenly. "But I guess that's to be expected." And just like that, he was shut out again.

"Whatever, princess," Drake snapped. He stood up and walked off, wanting to be anywhere but there at the moment. It seemed wherever he went he was reminded that he shouldn't be here, that eventually even she would probably see him through everyone else's eyes. He didn't belong, not on Auradon, not on the Isle, not anywhere. So he just stared at his feet as he stormed off and tried to forget about smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so here's my latest update. If there's any scenes you want between these two, I am open to suggestions. P.S., what should their ship name be?


	7. Chapter 7

"He's dead."

Raquel stormed through the halls, shoving past anyone who got in her way, her eyes narrowed. At first when Svanhild told her of Chad's actions of last night, the heartbroken expression on her friend's face almost made her pull her into a hug, but then it was replaced with an enraged and determined one as she glared at nothing. "He's _dead!_ " she repeated in a louder tone, making several students jump out of her way.

Alex followed closely behind with Svanhild. "Maybe you should just calm -" he began.

"Calm down? Were you seriously just about to tell me to  _calm down_?!" Raquel seethed, her eyes blazing. "I just found out that my boyfriend has been snogging some snobby princess behind my back. That's not okay!"

"If you're going to do something, at least don't do it in front of witnesses!" Alex reasoned, trying to calm his twin down before she exploded. Nerves erupted through the young prince, genuinely worried what his sister might do if she found Chad. "Remember you're on your third strike. Another mishap and Fairy Godmother's going to start sending you to Remedial Goodness class during your free periods."

"Let her," the blonde spat, her glare not lifting once. Svanhild wanted to calm her down, but at the same time, she wanted to see where this went. Knowing Raquel, she wouldn't let Chad get away with this, and she would make him pay for using her the way he did. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a 'disappearance' to plan. Two if you count the bitch he's been cheating on me with!"

"I'll help you hide the bodies, too, if you want," Svanhild offered.

"Thanks."

"Don't encourage her!" Alex exclaimed. "While I agree I want to see Chad pay, Mom and Dad made us promise we wouldn't set anyone on fire over here."

Svanhild actually paused in the halls. "And you guys say my people are the barbarians," she snorted before hurrying to keep up with Raquel's long, determined strides.

"If you try to stop me, Alex, I swear I'm done with you. I feel like my heart has been ripped out and I'm just now realizing that I never knew what real love was if Chad could say he loves me then say it to another girl once he leaves. I regret the day I ever met his sorry face!" Freshmen and seniors alike scurried out of her way as she stomped down the hall.

Unfortunately for the Charming, he was seen talking with Audrey and Ben about the VKs coming to Auradon. Svanhild held back, and watched Raquel walk up to him, looking very much like she was about to raise hell. No words were said, Chad barely able to get a word out as he opened his mouth to greet her, before she grabbed onto his arm and forced him to come with her.

"We need to talk," she said, half-dragging him off. Svanhild almost felt bad for him.

She laughed, shaking her head slightly. She glanced over to see Mal putting her books back in her locker, which was spray painted nicely, bearing the words  _LONG LIVE EVIL_. "Nice," said Svanhild with a grin, folding her arms across her chest as she leaned against the wall. "Love the color scheme."

"Um, thanks. Can I ask you something?" she said, fiddling with a pencil in her hands, giving a smile that was definitely fake. Alex was behind her, opening and closing his mouth, probably thinking of how to speak to her. Taking pity on him, Svanhild decided to buy him time.

"Uh, sure," the viking girl shrugged.

"Okay, I don't know what you heard last night, when you interrupted us. It didn't really matter how much you heard so long as you don't tell anyone, got it?" she threatened in that false honeyed tone. In an instant, Svanhild's smile slipped right off her face.

"First of all," she snapped, holding up a finger, her eyes blazing, "don't threaten me. Second of all, don't you dare use that tone to me. If you're gonna threaten me, don't act like we're suddenly friends. Third of all, I honestly _do not care_!" She made sure to enunciate that last part for Mal to understand.

Mal narrowed her eyes. "Fine!" she snapped, letting her friendly facade fall away. "Is that better?"

"Yeah, I kinda prefer when you're not being a two-faced bitch," Svanhild shot back with a casual shrug. "I mean, if you're gonna hate me, be honest about it; don't pretend you like me."

"Oh, and you think you're all that," Mal chuckled humoressly. "Do you even know who you're talking to?"

"Gee, I don't know, shall we find out?" Svanhild demanded, placing her hands on her hips. Before Mal could open up her mouth again, Alex came between them, arms up, the peacemaker.

"Ladies, ladies, you're both beautiful and terrifying," he said quickly. He grabbed a hold of Svanhild's arm and guided her away. "Okay, let's calm down now," he said gently. "Let's not do something we'll regret later."

"Oh, trust me, I will have no regrets," said Svanhild, sending a scathing look down the hall, but thankfully all she saw was Mal's back as she walked off.

"At the very least, don't do something you'll eventually have to explain to Fairy Godmother."

"No promises."

* * *

With that, everyone went about their normal day, and next up now was lunch. After that was only art and history, both classes Svanhild quite liked. She usually ate lunch with Elias in the restricted section of the library, but they had to be careful since Fairy Godmother nearly caught them last time. Guess if he was up to it they could look for an interesting book he had yet to read that wasn't in the restricted section.  _Boring_.

As she got her lunch, an average peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some jello, Kai poked her shoulder from behind. "Hey, you're eating lunch with us, right?" he asked, looking rather intrigued at finding out what his friends had been up to. He had changed out of his cheerleading uniform and his curly hair was loose, going a few inches past the shoulders.

"Sure. But if I find Audrey even nearby, I'm walking the other way," she replied, craning her neck to look back at him.

"She's not  _so_  bad," Kai stated with an amused smile. "We're roommates, remember?"

"Yes, and I pity you," snorted Svanhild, handing the lunch lady her card. "And respect you for making it this long without smothering her in her sleep."

Kai rolled his eyes. "I've known her since we were in elementary school. She wasn't always a bitch."

After paying for her lunch, Svanhild grabbed a few napkins and a spoon for her jello, and walked with him to their table. "Whatever. She might not have been a bitch back then, but she certainly is now," she sighed. "You told me you guys were friends, then she dumped you the first day of high school. I think there's no reason to try and defend her."

"Hey, she may not be my best friend anymore, but she is still somewhat a friend. You know the story." As Kai explained it, he sounded slightly uncomfortable at the last part, and she knew why. Which was why Svanhild always ended up letting it go when he brought it up. Despite her flaws, Audrey still somewhat cared about about an old ex-bestie, and she was the reason he was still on the team in the first place without any of the other bitchy teen girls saying a  _word_ along with some of the boys on the tourney team. Of course she couldn't do anything off the field, but it had earned a  _smudge o_ f Svanhild's respect.

"Yeah. But she's still a bitch," Svanhild muttered, noticing Audrey whispering to her friends as she passed them by.

"Look who's decided to join us!" Hunter cheered as she sat down beside him and his boyfriend. "I was starting to think you didn't want to hang out with us anymore," he joked, gently bumping her shoulder. She laughed, bumping him back.

"Nah. So did Carlos and Jay make the team?" she asked curiously, already tearing into her lunch. They seemed overall cool guys with a few flaws in their personalities, one of them being a kleptomaniac and all.

"Jay's a good player. Carlos...needs much practice." Hunter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I haven't seen the coach this excited since, well, me! Jay just needs to learn the rules 'cause he was just knocking us all over left and right, and I seriously doubt that's gonna work when we play against the Sherwood Falcons."

"Either way, I'll be stuck cheering from the sidelines, and I can yell at you with the microphone when you make a stupid move," said Kai, raising an eyebrow. That had to be his favorite part of cheerleading, where he could yell and shout without any repercussions.

"Ah, yes, I love your commentary," laughed Svanhild. She quickly finished her sandwich and dug into her jello.

"Did you know that idiot had the nerve to flirt with one of the new girls, who by the way,  _crushed_  the question Mr. Black threw at her in chemistry today literally _right_  after Raquel broke up with him," Alex huffed, coming up to the table. He probably would've slammed his fists on the table simply for the sake of being dramatic. Svanhild stopped mid-chew, staring at him incredulously.

"Not surprised," Kai shrugged. "He's done it before when Raquel was dating him, he'll do it again, especially now that he's officially single."

"Agreed," Hunter said sheepishly. "He flirts with the smart girls to get them to do his homework, then dumps them like trash." A small smile made his way into his face. "But one day, karma's going to backhand him, and I can't wait for that day."

Svanhild gave a light chuckle as Alex sat down across from her, looking like he was imagining ways to make Chad pay for treating his sister so carelessly. It was then the mentioned blond made her way to them with Chad following her sputtering numerous apologies.

"Raquel, wait!" Chad's yells only made her walk faster with her tray of food in hand. He ran up to her, and caught her by the arm. Alex moved to get up, but Svanhild, Kai, and Hunter all simultaneously held a hand out.

"No, no, let's see how this goes," Svanhild said, putting her spoon of jello in her mouth.

"Get your hands off me!" snapped Raquel, yanking her arm out of Chad's grasp.

"I'm sorry!" Chad told her. "I was hoping we could still be friends." The four at the table winced simultaneously at his choice of words.

"Friends?  _Friends?"_ Raquel asked in a dangerously low voice. "Oh, we can be  _friends_ , Chad. Just not with each other." She started to walk away again, but Chad grabbed her hand.

"Look, I know what I did was super uncool, but I just need you to forgive me and maybe we can get back together someday," said Chad. Raquel scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"You know..." When she started her sentence was that, Chad got a hopeful look on his face. "I have no idea how I put up with you for the past three years! You screwed up, and there's no second chances here!" As she spoke, she stepped forward, forcing Chad to take a step back with every one she took. "So if I have not made it clear already, let me spell it out to you  _again_! We are  _never_  getting back together, and that is  _final!"_ With that, Raquel turned around on her heel and walked off with her head held high.

"Does this mean I won't be your date to the coronation?" Chad called after her, and the venomous look she sent him said she was seriously considering slipping him a poison apple.

"No duh, sherlock!" Alex answered for his twin.

"You'll look stupid being the only princess there without a date!" Chad said.

"I'll look stupid _with_  you as a date!" Raquel shot back. As she sat down beside Svanhild, the viking girl held up a hand with a laugh and the princess high-fived it.

"Not bad, pretty princess," Kai complimented.

"Thanks," Raquel said through gritted teeth, still obviously agitated. 'By the way, you think Evie's willing to help me make a poison apple?"

"Hmmm. I'll talk to her and see what I can do," joked Svanhild. She glanced around for Elias to see if he was joining them, but he wasn't there. She instantly assumed he'd ditched lunch to hide out in the library with a book. That is until Svanhild noticed him sitting at an empty table by himself.

Except that table wasn't so empty. Drake was there, just staring at his tray and picking at his lunch. He looked like a kicked puppy. Elias was sitting beside him, talking up a storm. Meanwhile, the other VKs were sitting at a table on their own, hardly appearing like they noticed his absence. Svanhild watched Drake give a small smile. From his dejected expression, she wondered if she said something wrong during their last encounter since he stormed off the way he did. And maybe she was staring at him across the hall a little longer than she should have, Alex and Hunter exchanging looks behind her back, mouthing,  _'crushing.'_  Raquel and Kai mouthed back with enthusiastic nods,  _'totally.'_

The minute Svanhild turned back around however, they all suddenly found their lunch to be rather interesting as they spouted off random nonsense. "I can't believe Eli actually ditched us," she laughed. "I knew after a few years, he would finally start coming out of that shell of his and make friends of his own."

"Sure,  _Elias_  is the one you're paying attention to," Raquel grinned in a teasing tone. Oddly enough, Svanhild didn't catch on.

Finishing her jello, she put her spoon back in the empty container. "Well, of course. I mean, he is my best friend," she replied, her mouth full. "I'm just a little surprised he's hanging out with people on his own without us forcing him anymore."

"Sure, that's it," Kai muttered in disbelief. Hunter rolled his eyes at his boyfriend and gently poked him in the shoulder as a signal for him to dial the sass down a notch before Svanhild figured out what they were talking about.

"And what about Drake? Elias seems to be  _warming_  up to him." Alex laughed at his own horrible pun, but the laughter died when he saw the unamused looks everyone gave him. "So anyway," he said, clearing his throat.

"Oh, Drake? He was there? Didn't even notice him until you pointed it out," lied Svanhild, waving her hands and shoulders like they had a mind of their own. "Why?"

"You know, he's cute," commented Raquel randomly, gauging her friend's reaction. "Even the scars give him that cute rugged look. Don't you think so?" Saying it, the blond leaned forward, a twisted smile on her face.

Svanhild clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Never really noticed."

"Well, others are going to notice," the princess retorted, nudging her head in the direction of the table Drake was seated. A girl with black hair and green highlights wearing ripped black pants and a black leather jacket was sitting across from him, and Svanhild could recognize Nessa from the bubblegum pink hair and ribbon tying it. And besides Elias, two other boys were seated there who looked alike. "He's becoming popular fast, whether he knows it or not," Raquel continued. "If you like him, I suggest you come to terms with it before some other chick snatches him up."

Svanhild scoffed. "He's just some guy I met a day ago. He's cool, but I don't know him that well. Besides, I have more important things to worry about like the test next week, and I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Reluctantly, the topic was dropped, and Hunter went on about the tourney team. He started laughing on the subject of Carlos, talking about how freaked out he got over meeting Dude, the campus mutt.

After everyone told their little stories of the day so far, the discussion switched to the events coming up, like family day and Ben's coronation. Apparently, Raquel was having her dress fitted already and she was helping pick out a dress for Svanhild whether she wanted one or not. They talked like that until the end of the period when the bell rang and then it was off to history.

"So, that's a nice drawing," Elias quietly commented absentmindedly without looking up from his book  _Gone_  by Michael Grant as Svanhild put in the shading on her sketch to give it that realistic look. "Maybe you should turn it in for a grade and put it in the art show."

They were learning about the past wars between kingdoms and it was a real bore to listen to. Everyone back then had been so greedy, and they were still so even now. Only difference was that back then it was more about how much land was in your kingdom while now it was about who had the newest technology and clothes. Svanhild had seen her unfinished drawing from last night peeking out of her sketchbook and ended up losing focus completely. On the other hand, Elias had never been paying much attention in the first place. The minute the word history was even mentioned, he zoned out. It was a wonder they had the same grade in the class. As long as they stayed quiet, they could talk and get away with it.

"Thanks," she replied in a hushed tone. "Is there something you want to talk about beside my miraculous art skills?" The prince seemed to think she had a magic talent for drawing. He got her to do a portrait of him once, and she was pretty certain it was still hanging somewhere around the palace of Arendelle.

"Actually, I do." Elias put his book down, placing a bookmark so he wouldn't lose his spot, and he fixed her with a stare. "Don't take this the wrong way. First of all, I know you probably didn't mean to, but I think you offended Drake in some way," continued Elias softly. "He seemed pretty down when I saw him."

"Yeah, he always looks that way," she snapped, waving it off, despite feeling a twinge of guilt.

Elias sighed. "You don't know him that well, but he was upset. I happen to like him, and I think you should talk to him." His friends opened her mouth, and he quickly cut her off. "Not to apologize if you don't want to, but to talk to him. And then maybe apologize."

"Look, if it's a problem, I'll deal with it," scoffed Svanhild. "But I am starting to think you're spending too much time with Raquel. You're getting involved in other people's business a bit too much."

Elias only smiled, flashing white teeth. "Well, I can see what she means when she says how fun it is."

"Oh, gods, she's corrupted you already," Svanhild joked, poking him lightly in the arm.

"What do you expect? You've left me with her all this time," the snow prince shot back.

Class ended shortly after that, and Svanhild was off to her last class, art. Though she'd never tell Elias, she followed his advice, just not exactly. She entered in one of her drawings to the art show, but it wasn't the one of Drake and the other VKs that she'd finished by the end of class. It was one of Daybreak she'd drawn a few days ago. The teacher seemed pleased to see after three years, Svanhild was finally getting more involved with some school activities. For now, it was the only thing she'd be doing that would make her talents public.

There was also the fencing team she'd talked about joining before, but the real reason she was waiting until next year was that according to Chad and all the other boys when she first tried and all the tries after that each year, no girls were allowed no matter how good she was. Not only was it against the rules, but Chad said they'd become a laughingstock if they let a girl join, that the fencing team was more a "guy sport." If that wasn't harsh enough, he wouldn't stop rubbing it in her face as she persisted to convince him otherwise to let her on, and started taunting her that fencing wasn't a girl's sport and that she wouldn't want to mess up her hair. That earned him a punch to the gut and her detention.

As Svanhild walked out of the classroom, she tucked her sketchbook safely back into her bookbag. She headed outside near the forest and whistled for Daybreak to come. Within minutes, the dragon appeared, waving her tail in excitement. Clouds blocked out the sun today,  causing her white scales to almost appear gray. One tailfin was nothing more than a nub in comparison to the other if not for the prosthetic attached.

Daybreak was simply born that way, unfortunately. If Svanhild hadn't found her so soon, it wasn't very likely that she would have made it for so long. Without even one of the crucial parts that helped her fly, the act would've been made impossible, and Daybreak wouldn't have been able to survive. As they say back in Svanhild's village, a down dragon was a dead one.

"Hi, girl," cooed Svanhild, scratching her friend under the chin. Carefully, she unzipped her bag and held out a small sack of fish. The dragon smelled it before she saw it and pounced on her rider. Svanhild held the treat out of reach, though, and laughed. "Uh-uh, what do we say first?" she asked in a teasing tone.

Reluctantly, Daybreak got off of Svanhild and gave her the big, puppy-dog eyes then nudged her arm. Her version of a  _please_. Giving another laugh, Svanhild tossed the bag over in her direction and watched in glee as the dragon tore into her food. While Daybreak could hunt for her own food here, she didn't quite like the game in Auradon. It wasn't what she usually ate over in Berk, but thankfully she wasn't picky and Svan brought the fish they used to catch back home whenever she could get away with it. Besides, some of the princesses got all defensive when they knew Daybreak had an appetite for some of their "animal friends," so they were off the menu until the other teens would stop pestering Svanhild about controlling her "pet."

"You missed that, huh, girl?" Svanhild teased. The dragon looked up at the girl with the most "duh" look she could muster. Just the laughter that came out of Svanhild was worth all that time Daybreak waited for her rider to come out from school. Speaking of the school itself, it seemed to almost be sucking the joy right out of her human.

Before coming here, her rider would always smile; now she was almost always annoyed or tired whenever she came by. This place just wasn't fitting her. Daybreak wanted to see Svanhild happy like she was when she came to see her, but that hardly seemed likely.

Svanhild spilled about all the important things that had happened in her day and the unimportant ones as well so Daybreak would see what her human school was like and not feel left out. In Auradon, she never felt as if she should be here, that she belonged. But then again, how was she supposed to feel as a viking among princesses?

Just as finished telling Daybreak everything, she noticed the dragon sniffing and searching inside her bag, probably bored from sitting still for so long. "There's no more fish," Svanhild laughed. "I'm sorry." But her playful expression faded when she saw Daybreak holding her sketchbook in her mouth. "Hey, give that back," she scolded, but before she could do anything about it, Daybreak sprinted away.

With an annoyed groan, Svanhild grabbed her bag and raced after her, looking like an idiot as she yelled for her to stop.

By the time Daybreak did stop, Svanhild was completely frazzled as she pushed her way through trees and bushes. Swatting leaves away, she called out, "Daybreak, come on. You know I don't play around when it comes to my sketchbook." She was going to say more but was cut off by the sight of the very dragon she was searching for laying comfortably in the grass a few feet away and a certain dark-haired boy holding her sketchbook, looking both confused and amused.

"Hey," she greeted as he looked up at her. That was apparently their default way of saying hi to each other now.

"Hey." He grinned, and despite her initial guilt from earlier, she couldn't help but notice when Drake smiled, he seemed more approachable and friendly. It suited him more than all those times he was either frowning or staring with a blank or disinterested expression. And while the lip twitch thing he did was rather cute, she could get used to that bright smile he was sporting now.

It took her a good few seconds before the meaning behind that grin caught up to her, and her eyes widened. Up to this moment, she apparently was never truly mortified.

Her sketchbook had been left open to a certain page, and it was from the way Drake paused at that sketch and stared at her a moment that Svanhild knew what he was looking at. "Oh, the gods hate me!" she groaned, putting one hand up to her forehead.

"Don't get me wrong," Drake said in a mildly humorous tone even though the grin was now gone, "your inventions look interesting, but I couldn't help but notice something." He turned the book around to show the page with himself drawn on it. "I never knew I was this good-looking," he joked.

Slowly turning her head to Daybreak, Svanhild sent her a scathing look. The dragon merely gave her the most innocent expression possible with those large, wide blue eyes, and looked around herself as if saying,  _Who could have done such a thing? Surely it wasn't me._

Yeah, let's go with that.


	8. Icy Heart

Drake never thought he'd see the day cocky Svanhild blushed from the little he knew of her already, but her cheeks were flushed and she wouldn't look him in the eye. Well, in this type of situation he couldn't say he wouldn't do nearly the same. Only difference was that in her case, she looked rather adorable doing it. From his position, his legs crossed underneath him, he showed her the sketchbook with  _his_  face drawn on it. And pretty good, too.

To be honest, up until now, he thought she didn't really take note of him that much when they weren't talking to one another. But now....He could see the evidence that said otherwise. "I'm flattered," he joked.

"Don't be. I drew everyone," sniped Svanhild, crossing her arms across her chest.

"And there she is," Drake said, noticing her sarcasm and snappishness coming back. "I thought for a moment, I was speaking to some other shy princess."

"I'm not a princess," she said abruptly, except this time it was said with less annoyance. She rolled her eyes playfully as her free hand moved of its own accord, gesturing as she spoke. "Daughter of a chief. Get it right."

"Don't see much of a difference," Drake teased, closing the book in his hands and setting it aside on the grass. "You're basically a princess." At Svanhild's loud scoff and disbelieving expression, he continued. "Your parents are the people in charge and when they pass the 'crown' to you when you're old enough, you're the one in charge. That's basically screaming princess."

"Does not," scoffed Svanhild. "That's more like a smaller deal. Our village isn't a kingdom like this."

"Alrighty, princess." Drake shrugged and laid down on the grass, the blades tickling his bare arms.

Svanhild narrowed her eyes, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. "Call me princess one more time..." she mumbled. "I'm not like those snobby bitches who think they're better than everyone else."

"Not saying you are," he replied, looking up at her. "I'm just saying you're basically a princess." He smirked at her, turning her trademark look against her.

"Yeah, well then you're looking like Sleeping Beauty right about now," she snorted, fixing her goggles on the top of her head, leaning over him.

"You're blocking my view of the sky," said Drake nonchalantly, unfazed by her words.

"Seriously, though, are you waiting for someone to come around around and wake you from a hundred-year-old nap or something?" she joked, getting out of the way, but decided to sit beside him with her legs crossed beneath her. "Because if you're gonna keep comparing me to princesses, I'm gonna do the same."

Instead of looking in any way offended, he shrugged. "Bring it on," he challenged. "Besides, who wouldn't want to take a hundred-year nap? Sounds refreshing. I mean, let's admit, Sleeping Beauty was basically set for life from the beginning. Not only does she get to take a nice long nap, but she'd be woken up by a handsome guy who'd whisk her away to a castle to become queen." He chuckled lightly, picking up his head to look at her. "If that were me, I might've pricked my finger on the spindle on purpose."

"Too bad real life doesn't work out that way." Svanhild playfully pushed Drake's head back down gently. "Those are fairytales, but the times for those have passed. Now it's our turn to make our own stories, and those don't always have happy endings."

"Yeah, but your parents had a happy ending and a happy life." Drake couldn't help the bitterness in his words.

Although, he wasn't prepared for the bitterness in her answer. "Yeah, but my family had to work hard to get that happy ending every step of the way," she said, her gaze narrowed. "My dad was an outcast, a nobody when he first started out. People used to pick on him because he wasn't like everyone else. His life only started getting better when he shot down his dragon, Toothless. From then on, from keeping Toothless a secret to ending a three-century war and defeating the Red Death, he had to fight for what he now has. Always had. Even after, he was still fighting and working hard to protect our people, the same people who once ridiculed and at one point, disowned him for training a dragon before accepting him. Whether it was from other tribes or dragon hunters."

Drake stared up at her for a full moment. "Wow."

"Sorry, you probably think it's ridiculous that I get this worked up over something like this," Svanhild scoffed, rolling her eyes. She grabbed her journal and nearly got up until she heard his next words.

"No, I...think it's pretty cool you have a family history to be proud of. Started at the bottom and worked their way up to the top," he said, one corner of his mouth lifting up in amusement. "I, on the other hand, am stuck eternally apologizing for my father's past sins."

"Why should you be apologizing?" Svanhild demanded, her forest green eyes staring at him intently. "It's not like you're the one who did all those things? You don't have to apologize because your _father_  was a bad person. It's really not that big a deal."

A mirthless laugh came out of Drake's lips as he turned up on his side, using his hand to prop up his head. "That's nice, princess, but over here, all that matters us who your parents are. If they're proclaimed evil, you're also, by default, evil. Same with the good guys."

Svanhild tilted her head curiously. "I can't disagree with you there," she chuckled. "But to most people here, everything is black and white. One thing or another. I prefer not to see it that way. Our parents lived their lives, and some of them made some bad choices, but more it's our turn to live our lives and decide who to be." This time, she gave a laugh devoid of the wryness from before. "I mean, one of my dad's previous enemies, Dagur the Deranged, is now practically an uncle to me growing up. And I honestly thought he was for a while."

That immediately caught Drake's attention. A hero's enemy...becoming a friend of said hero? The look he sent her clearly gave away his disbelief because Svanhild clarified, "I know. It sounds crazy to most here, but as I said, to us, not everything's all black and white. People can change."

"So you're saying this Dagur guy used to be a villain..."

"And he eventually came over to my dad's side? Yeah. He managed to redeem himself and change for the better," she beamed, shrugging her shoulders. "He's a good man now. Still utterly insane, if you didn't get the hint from the title 'deranged'. But an essentially good man. And my brother's even engaged to his daughter."

Drake laughed then, laughed at the seemingly almost ludicrous action she was telling him. But also because of the happiness at the realization. He did have an option here....Not just evil. "So, that saying is true? All this time, I thought it would be wishful thinking of the good guys."

Svanhild's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Drake kept laughing, unable to stop. "What saying?" she demanded in amusement. "And what's so funny?"

After a moment, Drake finally stopped, laying on his back in the grass once again. To laugh felt good. Had he really gone this long without feeling this happy? "One, what I meant was the saying, 'Not all who wonder are lost,' and two, just...I don't even know. Maybe it's just that we were taught that once a person chooses that path, there's no going back."

"Well, the trip back is never easy. It's hard, and the farther down that path you've gone, the harder it is to go back. But there's always second chances." She unwrapped another caramel and tossed it into her mouth and held one out to Drake. He graciously took it.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he sighed. "But there are certain villains who are too far gone, right?"

For a long moment, Svanhild was silent, seemingly guessing what he was thinking about. She pursed her lips together and breathed out loudly through her nose. "I guess it depends," she shrugged at last. "How is your father?" she asked suddenly. "On the Isle? I don't mean to pry or anything, just curious."

But Drake caught her gaze lingering on the fading bruises on his arms, visible because of the sleeveless shirt he wore. In her defense, she kept tearing her eyes away so it wouldn't seem like she was staring. He sat up, propping his head up with one arm. "He...uh, wouldn't win the best parent award. Like, ever," he said, picking at the blades of grass sprouting from the ground. "But, you know, he's still my father so I'm sure he loves me in his own twisted way." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

"That's awful," Svanhild said. Her hand reached out to his arm and the tips of her fingers touched the black and blue bruise on his arm his father had given just the other day. Instantly, he flinched and yanked his arm away from her, pulling his arms around himself as he drew his knees up to his chest.

"Sorry!" she winced. "I'm sorry. I just keep saying or doing the wrong things every time."

Slowly, his breathing going back to a normal rate, Drake shook himself out of it and calmed down. "No--no, it's fine," he stammered out. "I'm just jumpy."

"No, it's not fine," Svanhild snapped, either angry at herself or him. "It's never 'fine' if you have to use that word to describe something. Nothing is ever just 'fine.' People either say okay, alright, those things, but whenever someone says 'fine', they mean it's the exact opposite." She sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "And the fact that you came here looking like you've been used as a human punching bag is  _not_  'fine', okay? Not to me anyway." She pulled her knees up to get chest.

"I don't need your pity," Drake retorted, annoyed he'd let someone see his weak side. "I'm not weak."

"And pity's not something I give," she snorted, giving him a sideways glance. "But I'm also not going to tell you to suck it up and pull yourself together. Just remember you wouldn't be here if you were weak or anything like that. I won't ask you how you got those bruises if you don't want me to, but to my people, to have that many earns respect because that means you survived." She gave him a soft smile and outstretched a hand but pulled it back quickly. "So those scars represent a warrior to us. I mean, we are Vikings."

A small smile pulled on Drake's lips. "Thanks."

"Drake!" Both looked up to see Mal in the distance. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Svanhild gave a wry, fake chuckle, then turned to Drake with narrowed eyes. "I hate her," she said bluntly.

Drake nodded even as he stood up. "Understandable. She's not _so_  bad once you know her. You get used to it after a few years," he said.

"If she couldn't see me right now, chances are high I'd give her a salute that'd earn me a lecture from Fairy Godmother."

Drake rolled his eyes and shook his head before he grabbed his jacket laying on the ground a few feet away. He slung his jacket over his shoulder. He had just come to the forest to have some peace and quiet. Next thing he knew, Daybreak ran to him with something in her mouth and then Svanhild stumbled upon him. He had to admit she was really...something.

"What?" he demanded in annoyance once he caught up to Mal who was already making her way to the school.

"Don't 'what' me," she snapped when they were outside her dorm room. "What are you thinking? Have you forgotten why we're here?"

"Oh, yes, steal the wand, blah, blah, blah," he shot back, glaring at her.

"The sooner we grab the wand, the sooner we're out of here, and the sooner were gone, the better," Mal said, folding her arms over her chest. "And I hate to burst your bubble, but it's never going to work out between you and her. You seriously think that girl will still like you after we let our parents in to wreak havoc?"

"I don't like her that way, and she doesn't like me," he snapped. "What, can I no longer be friends with someone?"

Mal paused in her rant, staring at him strangely. "You never use the term 'friends'. At least not with us," she said.

"Oh, really, I guess you should sue me then," he snorted, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, if you're here to tell me I can't speak to other people, do me a favor: Let it go."

"I'm sorry, but not only is Svanhild out of your league, but she's also  _good_. She may be the type to stir up trouble but she's not one of us," Mal interrupted, gauging Drake's expression.

"See, this is probably why I'm hanging out with anyone _but_  you people," Drake shot back with a smirk. He rolled his eyes and entered Mal's dorm. Carlos was already sitting on the floor playing with Dude and looked up at the sound of the door opening while Evie sat down at a desk with papers before her. Homework, Drake guessed. "I don't know when my business became your business."

That's when the fight broke out. As the two kept arguing and practically yelling at each other, Evie and Carlos exchanged uneasy glances, not sure whether to jump in or leave it alone. They only stopped when they were interrupted by Jay as he strode in with his new jersey indicating he was now on the team.

Carlos whistled at him as Jay posed in his jersey with a confident smile. On the other hand, while Drake wanted to congratulate him, he didn't want to confirm Mal's statement that he was going soft, and just sent Mal a glare before he went to one side on the room and leaned against the wall, Mal heading to the other and laying on her bed, her spell book open.

"Did your plan work with Jane? You're going over to see the wand?" Jay asked eagerly as he leaned against one of the white bedposts of Mal's bed.

"Do you think I would be going through every spell in this book if I hadn't completely struck out?" Mal snapped.

"Oh, so you do admit you're wrong at times?" Drake stated, slipping his arms back in his jacket. "What a shocker."

"Don't start," the purple-haired girl hissed.

Jay looked back and forth between the two in confusion. "Did I miss something?" he asked.

"Someone's in a bad mood," answered Carlos, jerking his head in Mal's direction.

"My mom's counting on me! I can't let her down!" Mal stated defensively, flicking Carlos lightly on the head. Then she turned her irritated gaze to Drake. "And I remember correctly, your dad's counting on you, too."

The reminder hit home, causing Drake to bristle, biting his lip so hard he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. Like he could ever forget. He guessed he should to pull it together and start doing what he was supposed to do. But he wasn't sure if letting his father out was something he wanted to do.

"We can do this!" Jay said suddenly, making all four VKs turn to him. "If we all just stick together," he continued in a softer tone.

"And we won't go back until we do," reminded Mal slowly, ruining the moment, "because we're rotten..."

"To the core," the other four finished simultaneously, except Drake's was said only half-heartedly.

"Oh, yeah. I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at the coronation and we're all invited to go," she told them all absentmindedly. "I have nothing to wear, of course."

Taking a deep breath, Drake said in a voice with barely concealed annoyance, "You knew? And you didn't tell us?"

"What?" she asked. A knock on the door interrupted whatever Mal was going to say.

"Hold that thought," Drake ordered, heading over to the door and answering it. On the other side of the door was a boy with dark brown hair looking very nervous with Ben by his side. "Hey, Ben, and...Alex, right?" Drake asked, pointing to the guy he remembered on the tourney field. Alex nodded shakily.

"Hey, my friend here wanted me to introduce him to you guys," Ben said cheerfully, and once again, Drake felt the urge to cringe at how super nice he was.

"Mal, it's for you," Drake called over his shoulder, stepping out of the way. He didn't want to deal with socializing right now.

Mal walked over, eyeing the two at the door. "Hey," she said.

"Hi. Alex, this is Mal. That's Carlos, Evie, and Jay," Ben introduced, gesturing to each in the room. 

"Oh, I remember you. You were awesome out there," Alex interrupted, pointing at Jay. "My friend Hunter's on the team."

Jay stared a moment before smiling back. "I see I've already got a fan. I remember you, too. You were cool, dude."

"Thanks," Alex beamed. He gazed right past Mal and looked at Evie. "And you, um, nice to meet you. I'm Alex. Rapunzel's son, you know, the girl with the seventy-foot long, magic hair? I just wanted to say hi and welcome you to Auradon. Do you happen to have any questions at all?" He started out confident but then it edged back towards nervousness at the end.

Mal looked at him before glancing back into the room at the gang. "Not that I know of," she shrugged, turning back to the two princes. Alex took another glance at Evie before giving Ben an encouraging smile with a wiggle of the eyebrows and left.

Drake spoke quickly before Ben could leave as well. Mal clearly had forgotten the subject they could definitely use that helpful attitude for. "Actually," he said, shooting a look at her, "we did have something to ask. Maybe you could answer it for us. I know Mal has just been dying to know."

He said the magic words. Drake could spy a crush when he saw one. Ben's eyes lit up at the prospect of pleasing her. "Yeah, yeah, of course, whatever you need," he grinned.

"Well, you see, I was wondering," Mal stated, playing along, "if it was true that we all get to go to your coronation?"

"Well of course, the entire school goes," Ben replied.

"Wow. That is beyond exciting," Mal told him with a smile. Ben easily grinned back. "Do you think it's a possibility that the five of us could stand in the front row next to the fairy godmother so we could just...soak up all that goodness?"

Instantly, Ben's face fell. He sighed as he shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. Up front it's just my, my parents, and, of course, my girlfriend," he responded, sounding disappointed but still smiling helpfully.

"And your girlfriend," repeated Mal.

"Yeah, sorry," Ben shrugged.

"Ok, thanks, bye!" Mal said in a fake cheerful tone. With that, she slammed the door before he could get out another word. She looked at everyone with an evil smirk. "I think it's time Benny-boo got himself a new girlfriend," she told them. "And I need a love spell." Carlos tossed Mal her spell book and she caught it.

* * *

 

"You look grumpy," Elias commented as Drake strode into their shared dorm. He placed a bookmark so as not to lose his page before snapping his book shut. Tilting his head curiously, he gave Drake a knowing look. "Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine," Drake grumbled, hanging his jacket on a hook in his closet.

"Oh." Elias nodded slowly. "Rough day, then."

"Fine means fine!" Drake snapped.

"Okay," said Elias, unconvinced. "Let's go with that." He pulled out a pile of books from the library. "But I know what would cheer you up!" he beamed excitedly. "You're not going to believe what I found."

"A book you've actually yet to read?" joked Drake.

"No! Well, yes," the snow prince laughed. "But that's because I snuck these out of the restricted section of the library. They never let us read them. I've snuck there a few times, but this time I took some with me." He looked so proud at having done something so ungoody-two-shoes-like that Drake had to smile. "I don't think they even noticed."

"Cool. Getting in touch with your 'Rotten to the core' side?" Drake joked, lightly punching him in the shoulder. There was a chilly aura around him that made Drake start shivering when he got too close, and he quickly regretted the action. Elias rolled his eyes playfully.

"Hardly. Just got curious. Besides this, the most rebellious thing I've ever done is intentionally steal extra chocolates before dinner," he corrected, then winced at the memory. "And I still feel guilty sometimes."

Letting out a dramatic gasp, Drake gaped at Elias. "How scandalous!" he exclaimed. "And here I thought we were put in with the good kids!"

Elias chuckled. "Okay, okay, so maybe that isn't bad for you, but it is For me," he told the Bludvist.

"What are they about?" asked Drake sitting down beside Elias. He grabbed one with an old, leather cover.

"So far, some are just filled with a super darker history of Auradon before it became all sunshine and rainbows," explained Elias. "Some are filled with dark spells and some just...tell stuff about Auradon they don't want you to know. I bet a few were owned by villains before they were all herded up and locked away. At least those that could."

"That could?" repeated Drake with both eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, some couldn't be stuck on the Isle of the Lost. Some were too powerful to be locked away. Some were cunning enough to escape capture. And some couldn't be locked away because they were needed in some ways to keep everything running." Pausing a moment to make sure he had his facts straight. "Take for instance Hades, Hunter's great uncle. He's needed to run things down in the underworld and take care of the dead."

"Oh." Drake nodded in understanding. "I get it. Well, I'll take dark history lessons over sappy love stories anytime, so mind if I..." He trailed off, holding up the book he was talking about.

Elias waved it off. "Not at all. I mean, I did get them partially for you. I personally don't think of you as  _evil_ , but I do think that puppies are your thing. Besides, after you've read practically everything in the library more than once, you'd prefer it, too." He was already flipping through the one he'd been reading minutes earlier again, unwrapping a chocolate chip muffin on his nightstand.

"I'll keep that in mind," Drake smirked, heading to his bed. He laid down, his legs over the edge. "By the way, I finished that book you gave me last night."

"Coolio," Elias grinned, looking up from his book. "So how'd you like it?"

"Not bad." That was an understatement, but Drake would never actually admit he'd enjoyed reading a children's book. While he didn't believe in any of the legends in there, it felt nice to have something to believe in if he wanted to. Stories that had made the corner of his mouth twitch upward that first night he'd read them and now made him involuntarily smile slightly at the memory of them. "Thanks for lending it to me."

"No problem. But just so you know, if you need someone to talk to, I'm only a few feet away," Elias chuckled, gesturing to the short distance between their beds. Then he was back to reading, probably able to stay there all day without realizing the world passing around him if he didn't need to sleep or eat.

With a soft smile, Drake opened up his book and started reading.

* * *

"All right. It says we still need one tear, and I never cry so...." Mal trailed off.

"Let's just chop up some onions," suggested Carlos. Drake let out a wry laugh and rolled his eyes.

"No, it says we need one tear of human sadness and this love potion gets the best reviews so we have to follow it exactly," Mal explained.

"A tear's a tear," Jay sighed in a bored tone. In response, Drake rolled his eyes and flicked the thief on the side of his head for how wrong he was without even glancing in his direction, earning a "Hey!" from the son of Jafar.

"That's not true, Jay. They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear," Evie stated, and Drake allowed himself a small smile at seeing how smart she really was, but quickly covered it up before he was caught.

"Always knew there must've been a brain under all that hair and makeup," he said absentmindedly so none of his sort-of-friends would start getting suspicious about him growing soft again.

"Look at you!" Mal happily exclaimed

"Yeah, I knew that," Jay said.

"Did not," Carlos scoffed, calling him out on it. He had his new best friend, Dude in his lap. Technically the dog wasn't supposed to be in the kitchen, but since Carlos had grown so attached to it, none of them had brought it up.

"There you are, Mal!" a girl with long brown hair exclaimed as she came into the kitchen. Before she could see it, Mal covered up her spell book with a napkin just in time. "I was looking for you! You know, all the girls want you to do their hair!"

"Drake, Lonnie. Lonnie, Drake," Mal introduced, noting Drake's confused look of 'where did she come from?'

"Oh, nice to meet you," Lonnie smiled. She peeked at the bowl of cookie batter on the table before Mal. "Midnight snack, huh? What you guys making?"

"Nothing special. Just cookies..." Just as Mal trailed off, Lonnie dipped her finger into the cookie batter and put it in her mouth.

"No, no, no, wait!" the five VKs protested, but Lonnie just gave them a weird look.

"What? I'm not gonna double dip," she assured them. Although that was kinda the least of their worries at the moment.

"Feel anything?" Evie asked slowly.

"Yeah, like it might be missing something?" Mal added. Jay then came up beside her and leaned against a pole with a flirtatious smile.

"Hey, there," he said. Lonnie had an uncomfortable expression on her face before ultimately deciding to ignore him.

Drake sighed before stage-whispering to Jay, "If that's your way of being 'charming', then may I suggest you take some classes?" The thief turned to him with a glare, and Drake backed up with hands up in defense.

"Could use some chips," remarked Lonnie, unfazed at all by Jay, which meant the spell wouldn't work without the tear. And not just a tear, an emotional one which they didn't have.

"And those are?" Mal demanded, frustrated.

"Chocolate chips. Just the most important food group," she told them as she grabbed a bowl of chocolate chips from the fridge. She put a handful of them into the 'love cookie' mix before setting the bowl aside. Drake picked out a few and popped them into his mouth. "Didn't your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies?"

Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her. The fact hit them hard that they had no idea what she was talking about. "Like, when you're feeling sad," Lonnie went on with a big smile as she reminisced the happy memory, "and they're fresh from the oven with a big 'ole glass of milk, and she just makes you laugh and puts  _everything_  into perspective, and....Why are you all looking at me like that?"

All five of them had unreadable expressions. "So that's what it feels like?" Drake found himself asking before he could catch himself. "To have a mother and a parent that loves you?"

"Huh?"

"He's just saying that it's different where we come from," she muttered solemnly, going back to stirring the batter now filled with chocolate chips.

"Yeah, I know," Lonnie tried, hoping to fix the blunder she'd already made. "I just...you know, thought that even villains love their kids." Her tone lost its confidence at the end once she noticed her words only made it worse.

Realization set on her face before being replaced by pity. "Oh...How awful," she said quietly. She placed her hand on Mal's in a gesture of sympathy. When Mal looked up to see a tear running down Lonnie's face, she caught it with her finger and flung it into the batter.

With that, she broke the silence and said suddenly, "Yeah, well, big bummer, but we have to get these into the oven, so thank you so much for coming by!" Lonnie seemed curious at the sudden change of mood as Mal practically shoved her towards the door. "

"Really, really have a good night!" she finished once she successful pushed Lonnie out

"Oh, okay," said Lonnie with a smile.

"See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"

"Evil dreams!"

As Lonnie left the kitchen, Mal clapped her hands together to gain everyone's attention. "Boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven." Drake broke out of his thoughts and headed over to help the boys with their job though his mind was now elsewhere.

* * *

"You better have brought me something if you went out for a midnight snack." Drake nearly jumped a foot in the air at the sleepy voice. The lamp on Elias' side of the room to reveal the prince lifting his head from his pillow with bleary eyes as he reached towards his nightstand for a pair of black glasses. He put them on, blinking a few times.

Frost creeped on the edge of his pillow where his head was along with the frost around the neck of the blue hoodie he was using for a pajama shirt. He wasn't wearing any gloves, causing the the room to feel practically like the inside of a fridge. Drake just wrapped his arms around himself and barely managed to keep his teeth from chattering. He didn't want to make him feel bad or anything.

"You wear glasses?" Drake asked in amusement, staring at the rectangular frames. Either way, whether Elias wore contacts or not, they didn't effect the vibrancy of his icy blue eyes.

"Yeah. I wear contacts around the school, though. Everyone expects the perfect image and everything, you know," Elias replied with a small, self-conscious smile. "And don't change the subject. Did you bring me something?"

In response, Drake threw a full bag of chocolate chips in his direction, Elias catching it easily. A second later, he gasped loudly and dug in. "Okay, we're now best friends for life."

Drake chuckled softly. "Are you kidding me?"

"I don't kid when it comes to food," Elias stated blatantly. "You bring me my favorites without me even asking you and you're in for life. Same with books."

With a shrug, Drake grabbed the blanket on his bed and wrapped himself up in it. "Well, glad to hear it."

"I'm sorry. I can only make things more cold. Are  _you_  cold? Is it too bad? I'm sorry, I thought I was handling it." Elias' hands instantly went to one of his drawers in search for his gloves, looking concerned. Concerned for him.  _Real_  concern. This kid, who he had just met the other day, was worried, and more importantly,  _cared_. He'd seen that before with Svanhild, but he hadn't had time to think it over. Yet actually thinking about it now, it was an unfamiliar concept that he wasn't sure how to react to.

He knew for sure, though, that he didn't want his new friend feeling like he had to embarrassed or ashamed of having something that was clearly a part of him. "No, no, of course not. Just a slight chill," Drake lied. "I'm f--okay. Night."

Slowly, Elias pulled his hand back, squinting suspiciously but saying nothing about it otherwise. "Hmm. Well, then. Sweet dreams."

Drake sighed quietly, watching Elias take off his glasses and switch off his lamp. He was cuddling his new bag of chocolate like a teddy bear which made Drake smile slightly. "I wish," he mumbled, laying down as it faded. His dreams were a lot of things, and none of them were ever sweet.


	9. Chapter 9

"Come on, we've got twenty minutes before history," Elias said, practically yanking Svanhild along after they'd finished lunch. They had been eating in the library while Elias had been reading up a book. She didn't know the title because he wouldn't let her see.

Normally, he would refrain from touching her at all out of fear of hurting her, but lately since this morning after being pulled out of class for a chat with Fairy Godmother, he seemed annoyed and was pushing the boundaries he put for himself. With a determined air, he tried casually touching people with his gloves on, even taking his gloves off occasionally during class (of course, most students near him would immediately tense up), and he kept doing it as if experimenting with how long he could go without freezing something on contact. Much like with not telling her what he was reading, he also wouldn't tell her what Fairy Godmother told him.

He wore his gloves now when touching her, but him touching her at all was a vague notion. "You know twenty minutes is a lot of time to get to class," Svanhild pointed out. "The library isn't even that far away from Mr. Scamander's class anyway. It's just around the corner, so there's no rush."

"I know, but I have to talk to a friend and if I don't do it now, the only time I can is after school during the game, and that's not a great time with all the excitement and yelling." Elias released her arm and stated walking off.

Svanhild was quick to follow. "And what's so important about it?" she couldn't help ask. "If you want to talk to Kai or Hunter, just catch them in the locker room before the game, and you can easily find the twins in the halls or wherever you hear maniacal laughing and screams."

"Do you seriously think you're my only friends?" He sounded offended as he turned around. "I have other friends, you know? Just because you don't know them doesn't mean they don't exist."

"Gee, sorry," Svanhild muttered, walking alongside. "What's up with you? You're acting weird and now you're literally biting my head off just for asking a simple question."

"Sorry. I'm just having a bad day," Elias said, a bitter undertone to his words.

"What's wrong? You know you can talk to me if something's up?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but it's nothing you would understand," he sighed, heading downstairs to the cafeteria.

"Try me," Svanhild snorted, folding her arms over her chest.

He gave an exasperated sigh, one that shocked her. He almost never got openly upset. He had always been one to grin and bear it unless it was really bad. "Look, this is just something I have to deal with on my own, okay?" he snapped. "I understand you want to help, but you can't right now, so just let me get it under control."

"Okay, fine," she said calmly, raising an eyebrow at his outburst. "I'll stop asking questions. If you don't want to talk, I get it."

"Thank you," he grumbled under his breath. She almost stopped if only to smack him in the back of the head for using that tone with her but she stopped herself.

He wandered off to the table he sat at yesterday. Drake was sitting there as well, but Elias remained standing up as he started talking with one of the girls from yesterday, the black-and-green-haired one. Eventually, she stood up and walked away with him.

Huffing, she sat down across Drake, surprising him. He tensed up in his seat until he realized it was just her and he relaxed. "Hey," he greeted, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Hey," she greeted. "Do you know what's up with that?" She jerked her head on the direction Elias went.

"Even if I did, it's not my place to tell you, princess" he shrugged. "That girl was Eliza. She's cool but she's the more live-life-on-the-edge and do-the-exact-thing-your-parents-said-not-to-do-just-to-spite-them type of gal."

"Is he at least talking to you?" she asked, taking a carrot off his tray, ignoring his indignant "hey!"

"I'll ask him about later if it'll make you feel better," he suggested, quickly warding her hand away from his food with a fork. A small smirk started to worm its way to Svanhild's lips as she grabbed a nearby fork of her own laying about.

"Yeah, it would," she said casually, jabbing her fork forward towards his food before Drake caught it with his own. "Thanks."

"Okay, I've been stuck in the Isle for seventeen years. Learning how to protect your food is mandatory," he commented dryly.

"And I've lived with two brothers for seventeen years, so learning how to protect _and_ steal food is mandatory," Svanhild shot back, using her fork like she'd use a sword when fencing as she managed to free it and darted forward quickly, spearing a piece of fruit. Narrowing his eyes, Drake shot his hand out to trap her fork before she could bring it up to her mouth.

"Nice try, princess," he smirked with a quirked brow, watching her expression turn irritated at finding an equal opponent so far into the game.

"I am _not_  a princess," she snorted, amused. "Daughter of a chief. Get it right." Drake playfully rolled his eyes and started up a retort when he noticed how close they were to each other from being so absorbed in the game, and abruptly sat back down, letting go of his fork.

"Whatever. Potato, tomato," he shrugged, playing it off. And it clearly worked judging by the indignant scoff she made.

"Uh, wrong!" She gestured to herself and put his stolen food in her mouth. "Big difference,  _huge_  difference. How do you mistake a future chieftain for a future queen?" she demanded with her mouth full.

"Easy. They're both practically the same thing. They're equally important and loyal to their people, or are _supposed_  to be," Drake explained, counting the reasons off his fingers, "they both have to take care of their village/kingdom, they are both leaders, and not to mention, you look more like a princess than most of the actual princesses here." He had already started eating his lunch again when he slowly started to realize what he said and froze.

Svanhild also froze mid-chew, then smirked. "Oh, really?" she teased. "Didn't know princesses wore goggles or trained dragons."

"Never said they did," Drake found himself saying once he unfroze. "I just said you looked like one, that's all. I mean, all that's missing is the tiara, but the goggles are a cute look, too -" He backtracked. "Not cute as in _that_  way, not that you're not attractive, of course, but I mean, well," it's obvious to anyone with eyesight, but I - why are you not stopping me?!" he snapped as Svanhild was bent over the table in silent fits of laughter.

"Sorry," she said, trying to stifle her laughter at his rambling. "Sorry, it's just hilarious seeing you struggle like that." His glare intensified. "It's fine, don't worry, I get whatever you're trying to say." She smiled as the laughter died down and she started fiddling with her goggles. "You'd certainly be the first to say it, but still, thank you." 

"No problem," he grinned. The bell rung suddenly, signaling the end of the period. Svanhild jumped up from her seat.

"Got to go!" she exclaimed. "Got history with Mr. Scamander, and if I'm late he'll ask me to write a paragraph or two as to why." Just before she turned to leave, she asked curiously, "what class do you have?"

"Oh, me? Well, I have...." Drake trailed off, trying to remember, "music with Ms. Swan, but I'm skipping anyway. I don't like her class very much. They're trying to get us to practice singing 'Be Our Guest' for family day, dancing included. I don't do that sort of thing, not in public anyway."

Svanhild gave a small laugh. "Singing and dancing? You?"

"Yeah, well, Ben's going to try to ask you to participate in their little musical dance number," Drake told her.

She made another indignant sound in the back of her throat. "I told him a hundred times I was not going to be doing that. I have two left feet when it comes to dancing."

"Really, I thought everyone was good at dancing in Auradon?"

"Yeah, well, not me, that's for sure," scoffed Svanhild. "I mean, am I seriously the only one noticing how odd it is that these people never practice or anything for those musical numbers and yet can just jump right out of their seats and start dancing and singing without so much as a blunder?"

He shrugged. "You start to get used to it after a while. I still don't get it, but I'm used to it enough not to question it.  _Once_  I joined in, but that's it."

"And when was this -" The late bell cut off her words. Drake could not seem more grateful.

"Oh, looks, like you're late. Gotta go, bye," he said quickly, waving her off.

"We're not done here."

"Didn't think we were. Now go."

With a roll of her eyes, she did just that. By the time Svanhild walked into Mr. Scamander's classroom, he was waiting, drinking a cup of tea. "Ms. Haddock, you're late," he announced as she tried to sneak past without being seen.

"Sorry," she winced.

"It's alright. Just make sure it doesn't happen again," Mr. Scamander told her.

She nodded and went to her seat.

* * *

 

As school ended, Svanhild darted out of art class and rushed to meet Hunter to wish him good luck on the game. Everyone was coming out of their classes, most of them heading to the game that was starting in half an hour. Hunter stood with Kai at his locker where he put in all his stuff for the day. Svanhild nearly paused at the writing on Kai's locker in black paint or on notes stuck on, but she was so used to seeing it, she shouldn't be surprised. That didn't mean it didn't still infuriate her every time.

While they were talking, Kai pointed out Mal talking to Ben down the hall. "Evie's alright, you know. sometimes when talking with her, you'd forget she's a descendent of the Evil Queen, but Mal, well, she gives me a bad feeling," he said.

"I don't know. It's really cute seeing him smile like a idiot around her," whispered Hunter in a tone that suggested he was about to dish out some gossip. "I heard that Ben wants to break up with Audrey, but he doesn't know how to do it." At the weird looks his boyfriend and friend gave him, he said defensively, "In the locker room, guys talk. Don't you girls?"

"Okay, some do," Svanhild admitted.

"That's weird. Well, at least Audrey and Chad can be together out in the open," Kai shrugged, slamming his locker closed as he grabbed his books and backpack. Then the trio noticed all the VKs crowding around the prince. Suddenly, he sang out loud enough for them to hear, "MAAL! MAL-!"

The 'Mal's' were cut off and muffled all of a sudden as Jay placed his hand over Ben's mouth. Jay and Carlos led Ben away to the game.

"Well, that wasn't suspicious at all," huffed Kai, blowing his curls out of his eyes. "She comes up to him, and a few seconds later, he's singing her name loud enough for the whole hallway to hear?"

"The hall? I'm pretty sure the entire school heard," Hunter snickered. Narrowing his eyes, Kai stepped on his foot. "Ow! For a tiny elf, you've got big feet!" he snapped.

"Focus!" Kai snapped back. "You have a game to win and one of our star players is lovesick. How are you not worried when that could effect his performance?"

"Because I know Ben. And if he does something ridiculous after the game, at least we'll have something to laugh at." Hunter chuckled lightly before Kai rolled his eyes, grabbed his arm and pulled him along to the locker room.

"See you at the game," Kai called back.

"See you," Svanhild said absentmindedly. She glared at Kai's locker door and started ripping off some of the notes taped on. While it had been done so much to the point where Kai just gave up on cleaning it because people would only put on more the next time around, she wasn't one to be so easily deterred.

It wasn't until she'd taken all of them off so there was only the spray-painted black words on the locker that she began to walk away. That she could deal with later. "I swear, people don't like anything that's different, do they?" she muttered to herself as she tossed them in the trash.

Everyone was making their way to the game so she decided to do the same. It wasn't like she had anything else to do. She made her way to the field and caught the teams doing their warm-ups while the cheerleaders were prepping the crowd. She was easily able to pick out Carlos and Jay because Carlos was the shortest and had the numbers 101 on his back (pretty sure the coaches did that purpose), and also Jay because if Carlos was around, he wasn't too far behind. Hunter wasn't too hard to miss either since he was among the tallest players.

"Svanhild!" shouted a feminine voice as the Viking teen searched through the crowd until she found it to come from Evie, the blueberry-haired princess. She looked up to see her waving her arms and once she saw that, the two made eye contact. Evie motioned for her to come up. Svanhild pointed to herself in confusion. "Yeah, you! Come on!" With that, she made her way through the crowd of people, nearly tripping trying to get up before sitting down beside Evie.

"What's up?" she asked warily.

"I just wanted to see what girl Drake's been going on about lately," Evie shrugged. "Oh, how's that adorable dragon if yours doing?"

"Daybreak is doing great," Svanhild beamed. "I'm even making her a new tailfin so she can fly on her own without my help."

"Wait, why can't she fly on her own?"

"Well, you know how some people can be born without limbs?" Evie nodded. "Well, that can happen with dragons, too, I guess. She was born without one of her tailfins. And tailfins are needed to fly. If even one is missing...." Svanhild made a motion with her hands of crashing to the ground. "Can't fly. Which is a basic necessity for every dragon."

"Ah." Evie was nodding along, and despite her previous dumb girl act, she actually seemed to be catching on to what she was saying. "I get it, it's like the human equivalent of missing a leg and not being able to walk. And so by making a new one, it's like making a prosthetic, and she needs help because she can't move it by herself into the positions it would need to change direction in the sky."

"That's actually pretty much it simplified. If you want to get technical, it's a lot more complicated," Svanhild said, mildly shocked as she fixed her goggles atop her head. "Don't take this the wrong way, but when I first met you, I thought you were one of those girls who has more beauty than brains. "

"Yeah, well, I guess when it comes to choosing between beauty or brains, I decided to take them both," Evie shrugged, beaming. "I just thought guys like a girl who looks better than she thinks."

"The guys that do, stay far, far away from them," snorted Svanhild, resting her arms on her legs. "The guys you really want as a boyfriend are the ones who don't see you as just another pretty face and like you for you, flaws and all." Evie beamed even brighter.

"You're smart, too, clearly, I mean, you really know how to make something like that?" she remarked.

"Well, yeah, my dad's a bit of an inventor, and the parts for it are hard to come by around here, but I get it done," stated Svanhild proudly. "My dad did the same thing with his dragon, but Toothless didn't want to fly without him so he destroyed it."

"Aw!" Evie squealed. "That's so sweet! Is his dragon a Night Fury, too?"

"Yeah, about the first dragon ever tamed by a Viking," Svanhild smiled. Suddenly, she got what Kai said about it being easy to forget who her mother was. "Just like my dad was the first to ever tame a dragon."

"Oh, what-!"

Evie's excited question was cut off by the sound of Mal's shout of "Evie!" as she climbed up the bleachers towards them. Svanhild's smile instantly faded, replaced with annoyance. Especially when Mal choose to sit right beside her.

"Has the game started yet?" she asked.

"Not yet, but it's about to," Evie replied, pointing out at the field.

"So Ben really likes you, huh? What, with all the singing," Svanhild remarked, looking over Evie at Mal.

"What? Yeah, you could say that," Mal answered once it registered she was talking to her.

"I'm going to assume it's by normal means and that he actually likes you because you're gorgeous, or that you like him and you gave him something to like him back," Svanhild went on in a calm tone, "but if I find out you made him like you only to mess with his feelings and hurt him worse than Audrey, I will burn both that spellbook and your hair in your sleep."

After a moment, Mal simply nodded. "Seems reasonable. I'd probably do the same thing if it were one of my friends."

The game started and it was actually pretty fun to watch. Seeing Ben lead the team as Hunter killed it out on the field while Kai shouted words of encouragement like, "KICK THEIR ASSES, BABE!" was a sight to behold. Personally, Svanhild didn't like watching sports, but she'd make an exception for her school's tourney team. Jay was also killing it out on the field as much as she hated to admit it. He was playing it more as a teammate, which was different from when she first saw him. Then again, she'd heard of worse people changing for the better.

The game went on and with only a few minutes left, the score was tied so tension rose as the clock counted down. Svanhild saw that Jay and Carlos were standing over by the benches as Jay laid an arm on his shoulder. She saw the coach sigh before deciding to send them out there. She barely managed to catch Carlos block someone from tackling Jay, knocking them down to the ground. Shortly after he did a little victory dance that had her chuckling slightly.

The final play had her cheering herself hoarse. Carlos let Jay hit the ball off his shield as Jay passed it to Ben and he just whipped it into the goal. Everyone went wild and Mal covered her ears from the noise.

"HE SCORES! Prince Ben had won it!" the announcer screamed over all their excited shrieks. "What an unselfish play by Jay!" The announcer kept going on and on and Svanhild tuned him out until....

"Excuse me? Excuse me, can I have your attention please?" Ben asked as he grabbed the mic from the announcer. Everyone was still cheering like crazy but started to calm down when he stood up on one of the boxes meant for the people shooting at the players to stand on. "There's something I'd like to say." He paused, looking over to Audrey and at that moment, Svanhild knew. She could just feel it. Prince Ben was about to do something absolutely, incredibly... _stupid_. "Give me an 'M!' he shouted, making am M with his hands. Yep, he's going to do something stupid alright.

"M!" everyone but her shouted, doing the hand gesture for the letter. Svanhild was tempted to join in, but decided against it. Instead, she took out her phone and started videotaping. After all, Hunter was right; this would be something to laugh at later.

"Give me an 'A!'" he yelled, and they all joined in shouting 'A' as Mal instantly resized what was going on. "Give me an 'L!'"

"L!"

"What's that spell?" he asked. Mal looked unamused and embarrassed, her cheeks a light shade of pink while Evie was just dying from how cute this was.

"MAL!" everyone shouted, even Svanhild at that point because she couldn't help it, especially if it were bothering Mal.

"You asked for this!" she taunted her with a snicker before turning back to the spectacle in front of her.

"Come on, I can't hear you!" Ben yelled into the mic.

"MAL!" everyone screamed the girl's name again.

"I love you, Mal, did I mention that?" he asked with a loving smile. Audrey's face fell and she ran off in tears. Despite everything, a part of Svanhild felt bad for her. But then she remembered she had a backup boyfriend and a bit vanished, but still? No one deserved to be broken up with in that way in front of the whole school. What was completely put of character for Ben is that he didn't seem to care at all.

"Give me a beat!" he called to the marching band.

"Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!" Doug shouted and they all started playing out of nowhere. How did they even know what type of tune to play? Do they just automatically know these things in their head or just make it up as they go along? Auradon was like a fantasy sometimes, albeit a funny one.

"Oh my god!" Evie squealed once the team started dancing and Ben got ready to sing.

"What was in that-" Mal began, unable to help a smile at what Ben was doing for her.

"Cookie!" she and Evie said at the same time, though Evie's still sounded excited while Mal sounded disbelieving.

" _Did I mention that I'm in love with you? Did I there's nothing I can do. And did I happen to say? I dream of you everyday but let me shout it out, if that's okay. That's okay,"_ he started to sing, the team singing and dancing with him. Ben would probably be embarrassed about it later, but that wasn't her problem.

 _"I met this girl that rocked my world like it's never been rocked and now I'm living just for her and I won't ever stop. I never thought it can happen to a guy like me, but now look at what you've done, you at got down on my knees,"_ he continued to sing as Mal blushed and Carlos and Jay were having a blast dancing as well.

 _"Because my love for is ridiculous, I never knew that it can be like this. My love for you is Ridiculous. My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! It's...RIDICULOUS! Just... RIDICULOUS! And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss."_ What was happening right now was incredibly adorable and seeing Mal smiling was just the cutest thing ever. Svanhild knew he's more than likely under a love spell and all but, she somehow knew Ben would be the perfect boyfriend for Mal, even without the love spell.

 _"Well did I mention that I'm in love with you. And did I mention there's nothing I can do. And did I happen to say? I dream of you everyday but let me shout it out loud, if that's okay. If that's okay. I gotta know which way to go, c'mon gimme a sign. You gotta show me that you're only ever gonna be mine. Don't want to go another minute even without you 'cause if your heart just isn't in it, I don't know what I'd do,"_ he just went on with the song and all of it was ridiculous. Every so often, Hunter would turn to where the cheerleaders were and mouthed the lyrics while making a heart with his hands at Kai. He'd roll his eyes and wave him off.

Svanhild glanced over to Mal who was covering her mouth as she couldn't help but smile at him. This was seeming more like a fairy tale where the villain gets a happy ending after all.

 _"Because my love for you is Ridiculous. I never knew that it can be like this. My love for you is Ridiculous. My love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! It's... RIDICULOUS! Just... RIDICULOUS! And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss,"_ he went on, dancing like a complete dork.

He sang the same verse over again as he threw his jersey at Mal and she caught it, giggling like a little girl in love. He crowd surfed over to Mal as the song was about to end. " _And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss. Come on now,"_ Ben finished as he went to kiss Mal but she panicked backing away, bringing up the jersey to cover her face. Ben wrapped his arms around her as Evie and Svanhild couldn't help but laughing and smiling at this whole scene between the two of them.

"I love you Mal, did I mention that?" he said, then Audrey came through the crowd and snatched the microphone away from Ben.

"Chad's my boyfriend now and I'm going to go to the coronation with him, so I don't need your pity date," she remarked, kissing Chad before everyone.

Rolling her eyes, Svanhild grabbed the mic from her. "News flash, no one cares," she stated into it. She handed it back to Ben.

"Mal, will you go to the coronation with me?" he asked, and Mal took the mic and told him yes. "She said yes!" Ben cheered as the crows went wild. Jay came running up through the crowd to get Ben back down to the team.

Svanhild wandered down to see Alex who was fiddling with a pencil. "You doing alright?" she asked.

He smiled. "Well, yeah, it's more my sister I'm worried about."

"Where is she?"

"She went off when she saw Audrey kiss Chad. They broke up and everything, but it's still hard to see for her," Alex shrugged. "She just needs some time alone. She'll get over it soon, too." His eyes wandered off to someone else. "In the meantime, let's work on you."

"What are you talking about?" Svanhild demanded, shoving him lightly.

"Oh, as if it isn't so obvious," Alex scoffed, taking her chin in his hand and turning it in the direction he was looking. Drake was congratulating Carlos and Jay in their win. Svanhild made an indignant sound and swatted his arm.

"What is with you people? He's just some guy I know!" she snapped.

"Mm-hmm." He fought back a smile. "I'm sure." She scoffed and stood up abruptly before storming off.


	10. Icy Heart

"So, are you doing alright?" was the first question Drake asked when Elias walked into their dorm. The ice prince in question slipped off his gloves and sat down on his bed.

"Depends on what you mean by alright," he sighed, resting his head on his hands with a resigned expression on his face, even neglecting the book on his nightstand he'd been researching nonstop since he'd got it.

"What happened?" Drake inquired, tilting his head to the side.

"You know Fairy Godmother, right?" he said. When Drake nodded, he continued. "She took me out of class today and reminded me about the deadline I have on my sixteenth birthday next week. She told me when I first enrolled here that she could take away my magic, but only until I turn sixteen, because then they're permanent." As he said this, his tone turned bitter and he held out a hand, a snowflake forming and hovering over his palm.

As he leaned forward, Drake only had a moment to marvel at it (it was the first time he'd witnessed actual magic at work besides Mal's) before Elias closed his hand into a fist, his expression darkening. He didn't notice the frost gathering at his feet. "Today, she pulled me out of class to ask if I was positive that I wanted to keep my powers," he huffed, folding his arms across his chest. Ironic to his element, a flame burned in his eyes. "I swear magic is practically forbidden now. Almost no one in Auradon has it anymore. Wanting to be in that circle and shunning our powers in the first place caused my mother to freeze our entire kingdom. My mom and my stepfather chose to keep theirs, and I choose to keep mine! I have to!" There was a desperation in his voice that made Drake pity him.

If you'd have ever told him he would one day pity someone who had grown up in perfect Auradon, he would have called them crazy. After all, back on the Isle where they practically had to search through the garbage like rats and eat Auradon's leftover, rotten scraps of food, he thought they had nothing to mope around about compared to them. But...maybe regardless of their current state in life no matter how seemingly perfect, everybody had their inner demons to fight.

"Okay, I can understand that," Drake said, and despite the drastic chill surrounding Elias that made him fight to keep his teeth from chattering, Drake sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. It felt like touching ice, even through Elias' clothes. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it just like they did." He decided not to touch on the mention of a stepfather regarding what Elias told him about his birth father.

"Well, you'd be the first to say that," he scoffed. "Almost no one else thinks that. My family is one of the few left with powers, and our kingdom may roll with it now, but we're also one of the few people who could have ended up on the Isle. Still could according to Audrey."

Drake's eyes widened. "You...You mean there are Auradonians who were almost Isle people?"

Elias gave him a bland, unimpressed look. "Yes, there are some of us who made a few mistakes that suddenly make us bad guys. Sure, my mom is one of the sweetest people I know and it was  _one_  incident that happened _years_  ago, by  _accident_  if I may add because she had no idea what she was doing, but of _course_  people still hang it over my family because she came close to even killing my aunt. Once again, by _accident_." He stood abruptly, ice following his every step. He stepped to the window and gazed outwards. When his next words came out they were dead quiet. "Or maybe they're just afraid."

"Do people ever...pick on you?" asked Drake, noting the way Elias' fist clenched on the windowsill at the question, ice surging from his hand to cover the whole thing and even reaching up to touch a portion of the glass. Jagged shards of ice jutted out around his hand where it sat. Oddly enough, for once, he didn't back down and force his power back down. "From what I saw, people mostly leave you alone."

Aside from the glances from everyone he'd catch as they would walk down the halls together talking. Unlike usual, they would always not be directed at him but at Elias. Whispering behind hands in hushed voices to their friends until one of them caught his eyes and would go silent. Yeah, they left him alone. Other than avoiding him like the plague and tensing whenever he drew near.

They left him alone to the point where that was all he was: Alone. Besides Svanhild and her friends along with the ones he'd met at lunch with magic of their own that they embraced, Drake realized almost nobody went two feet near Elias if they could help it, not even most of the teachers.

At least with Drake and his sort-of-friends, Auradon tried to cover up their scorn and distaste for them, with false politeness and sweetness. At least some seemed uncertain whether or not they were like their parents.

However, with Elias, it wasn't so much as scorn as it was _fear_. Because he had power over ice and snow like his mother, they stayed away. No one even attempted to hide it; it was plain as day in the way they acted around him, creating a circle of isolation intentionally or otherwise. Everyone feared the one person who didn't deserve it, because they thought if anyone made him upset or angry, he'd freak out like his mother had years ago with so little control.

Because no matter how long had passed, the people of Auradon would never forget what the kingdom of Arendelle had dealt with and forgiven long ago. That they had accepted while Auradon had yet to. Because as long as Elias didn't have complete control, he was deemed unpredictable, and unpredictable in their eyes, from experience, meant dangerous.

"Pick on me?" Elias' laugh came out sharp and wry, unlike his usual lighthearted and good-natured ones. Perhaps the anger and bitterness he showed now had always been there boiling beneath the surface for so many years until what had happened today made it too unbearable to keep it all locked inside. Which brought the question of how much more he was going to take before he finally cracked since the beginning signs were starting to show. "No, Chad's the only one stupid enough to. But what on earth could he have to attack? That I'm a freak in a family with a history of lashing out and loosing control? That in a place _full_  of picture-perfect families, I'm the only one with a stepfather and  _half_ -brothers and sisters because my birth father left my mother and I, whereas everyone else's parents were 'meant to be' and 'love at first sight', as if I'm not reminded of that every Family Day? That because of that, I'm technically illegitimate and shouldn't be next in line for the throne of my kingdom? That my mother is the 'Snow Queen' and my stepfather is the 'Fire King?'"

"What? You never told me that."

"For good reason, after all, would even _you_  want to be near me after hearing that before getting to know me first?" The words cut a stake in his heart, but when Drake opened his mouth to protest, he found he honestly couldn't say for sure. "Thought so. Oh, and this one's so rich that Chad just  _had_  to bring up today, telling me if I couldn't get my powers under control before my deadline and I refused to give them up, he bet Fairy Godmother and King Adam would take them away by force or send me to the Isle? Now, isn't that funny?"

Again, he laughed, this time sounding a bit twisted.

"Okay, I think you need to calm down," Drake suggested slowly, cautious, as he stood up. "You're starting to scare  _me_  a little."

"Of course," he snapped, turning to face Drake. In that moment with a crazed rage in his eyes, he honestly looked more a villain than Mal did sometimes. For a split second, his eyes flashed gold. "Because that's all people will ever see me as, right?! I have literally done nothing but try to be the perfect goody-two-shoes and keep everything calm and controlled, I've _never_  made any kind of trouble, but that's not good enough, is it? That's _never_  enough!" Spikes of ice shot up around his feet as he dug his hands into his hair, looking about ready to pull it out. "No matter what I do, they will  _always_  fear me! For something I haven't even done yet!" There was something dark in his tone as his next words came out low and deadly calm, which actually frightened Drake more. "If they're gonna fear me, at least let me earn it first."

* * *

The next few days passed uneasy. Sometimes Elias was his normal, cheerful and bright self, and sometimes it was like something dark and angry was lurking beneath the surface inside him looking to burst out at any moment. One time on a good day, when he seemed perfectly calm, Mal brought up what was basically Auradon's views on him and his mother in front of him when she and her friends walked over to his and Drake's table to pull him along to let him in on their recent progress in their plan. The result wasn't pretty. To lighten the mood, she'd joked Elias might make a great villain for their team. He immediately lashed out and screamed at her, freezing the entire cafeteria table and covering it in jagged spikes and icicles, before storming off.

And that was with his gloves on.

At night, sometimes Drake woke up to find Elias shouting awake from a nightmare, and then rocking himself back and forth while muttering under his breath. Sometimes it seemed like he was talking to someone who wasn't even there, covering his ears with his hands.

Despite the fact that he was plotting with the VKs to grab the wand and allow their parents to seize Auradon, Drake was worried about him. It was wrong to since it was best not to get attached to them, but he truly was. In the time he'd been there, besides Svanhild, Elias seemed to be the first real friend he'd had, who didn't expect anything of him in return. Sure, he had shared conversations with Svanhild's other friends, but not enough to call them his friends, and the sort-of-friends he'd made at lunch, Eliza, was only interested because he was a VK. If it hadn't been for that incident with the scepter back on the Isle, Mal and the gang wouldn't have given two thoughts about him until now.

However, Elias, knew what it was like to feel alone even when surrounded by others. Of wanting to rebel against the fate everyone else expected of him, yet finding it near impossible. Of knowing the pain of being abandoned by someone who was supposed to love you. Elias was considered his friend because they understood each other despite their differences in their upbringing. And there was a pang in his heart when he thought of losing that friendship to whatever internal conflict was raging in his mind.

But he had to focus on the plan. The plan to release his father from the Isle. A chill went down his spine at the thought of, after all this time of being free from his control, going back to that wretched way of living.

Turns out Mal's plan was working with Ben. He was completely in love with her, although there was a bit of a debate on whether or not she was beginning to feel the same towards him. She seemed regretful in a way, of using him like this, Drake could see it in her eyes.

Not for the first time, he was having doubts about going through with this plot to take over Auradon.

Weren't they happier here? There were flaws, but perhaps they could be overcome over time. Everyone seemed lighter, brighter, without their parents looming over them and practically forcing them to follow their footsteps. In each meeting he could see they were all having second thoughts. Yet no one said anything.

And they definitely weren't after Fairy Godmother's "gift" for them.

That Remedial Goodness class was different as Fairy Godmother began speaking about Family Day on Sunday. One more day until all the parents of the Auradon kids, and Drake would inevitably have to face Svanhild's parents.

"As you know, this Sunday is Family Day at Auradon Prep, and because your parents can't be here due to, uh, distance," she laughed, trying to make light of the situation, "we've arranged a special treat." She ran over to the monitor and turned on the screen as Maleficent's face appeared.

They all walked up to the screen, Drake tensing at the prospect of seeing his father.

"I don't see anything, nor do I hear," she stated, backing up from the computer as the teens gathered around. "Can I please see a remote? Is this thing on?" she yelled as Jafar, Cruella, and the Evil Queen showed up.

His father showed up for a second, but that was all it took. Drago Bludvist's eyes met his, and he gave him that look that said not to mess up this opportunity, then left. Drake found it hard to breathe, tears building up in his eyes. Since he stood in the back, he ran out without anyone wondering where he was.

He didn't want to see his father. He didn't want to see him ever again if he could help it. He was just so sick of the Isle of the Lost, of the memories of the things he'd gone through over there. The constant pain and fear he endured every day there. He was so done with it. He wanted to be his own person, but he wasn't sure if that was even possible.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Drake looked up from his spot against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped around his head, to see Svanhild staring down at him with concern. He must have looked pathetic. He quickly tried to pull himself together and stand up, but he stumbled and failed miserably. To her credit, she didn't laugh.

She sat down beside him. "So...I heard you guys got to see your parents for Family Day after all," she said. "Are they really that bad?"

"Usually ten times worse," he admitted. "Maleficent manipulates Mal to live her life through her. Evie's mom rips her apart for everything all the time; that's why she's so hooked on appearances, it was the only thing her mom ever praised her for. Jay and his father hardly act like family; they're more a business operation. Carlos was practically his mother's slave, and me...well I guess it's obvious."

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," she told him in a low voice, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Some people never do. It just makes it that much more real. It took years for my dad to talk to us about the abuse and ridicule the village put him through the first fifteen years of his life. That was before they finally accepted him, but...just because things are different now doesn't mean the memory or the emotional and mental scars ever go away."

"Thanks," Drake finally said after a long while. 

"No problem," she smiled back, standing up. She held out a hand for him. "So, do you want to hang? I mean, we have already, but those were unplanned. I could tell you about the prank Raquel pulled on Ben this morning. She and Alex enchanted Ben's shower so he's now just completely orange until he figures out the code word to break the enchantment." 

He could tell she was trying to change the subject for him, so he went along with it. "And that is?" he chuckled, taking her hand.

"Raquel won rock-paper-shoes against Alex, so it's 'Raquel is queen of everything.' It really is awesome, and you might want to warn your friends about going against those masterminds," she answered. "They actually poured dye into his shower head, and it'll only come out if he says those words. He's gonna try to wash it off, but that will only make it worse."

"First of all, that's brilliant. Second of all, what exactly did he do to piss them off?"

Svanhild shrugged as they began walking down the hall together. "Neither of them exactly likes Audrey, but Raquel didn't like how he humiliated her, and she thought he needed to know how it feels so he doesn't do it again, and Alex...well, he believes in respecting women. That may or may not also be why I didn't try to stop them when they told me they were doing it." 

"Do they take requests?"

"Oh, yeah, they charge people to play pranks on others for them, although it's mostly just for them. They once glitter-bombed the chemistry lab for fun. It's been weeks, and you can still see some whenever you go inside."

They continued talking about nothing in particular, just about whatever. When they finally stopped, it was when the sun was starting to set, and Drake realized he needed to get back to his dorm because Mal said they needed to talk about their plans to snatch the wand again. To be honest, he was surprised how much time had passed and how easy it had become to talk with her that he'd lost track.

"Sorry, Princess but I got to head back," he said, grabbing his jacket. He had begun wearing it less, as the bruises were starting to fade. He didn't want to think of the ones that might soon replace them if his father was freed from the Isle. 

"Okay, I'll see you then," she said, as they now sat in the forest again like the last time they spoke. As she laid on her stomach, she stroked Daybreak's white scales. Then her eyes widened and she smacked herself in the side of head like she'd forgotten something. "Oh, I just remembered, Elias told me you wanted to learn about dragon training." Her eyes were bright as she said it, excited to do something that came so naturally to her. "My parents are coming from Berk tomorrow. I can ask my dad to bring a copy of the Book of Dragons, and maybe he can teach you a bit himself."

"I think I'd like that," Drake chuckled to himself.

"Great." Svanhild stood and brushed herself off. At the last moment, she paused as he was about to leave. "And Drake?"

He turned. "Yeah?"

She continued to stare at him a moment, then pulled him into a hug. Drake went rigid, the feeling foreign to him. He couldn't ever remember being hugged by someone before. She didn't let go, only tightening her embrace, her easy breathing near his ear that calmed him as his heartbeat slowed.

Awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

It was strange. So very strange...but not entirely unpleasant.

Svanhild wasn't one to be emotional, or to invade someone's space, but in that moment as she pulled him into a hug, she knew it was something Drake desperately needed. Something all of them needed.

Seeing how badly he'd broken down in the hallways when she had first seen him, she could only imagine how the others felt. To endure the pressure of being nothing but bad and be unloved. It must hurt, and tough as she may be, Svanhild didn't think she could live like that without having a mental breakdown every day.

"Don't worry about your dad," she said when she did release him. "Some people aren't really your parents just because you share blood. Remember that. Our past doesn't define us, our choices do. Besides, there's literally an ocean between you now."

Still in shock from the gesture of affection, he blinked a few times before nodding. "Yeah..."

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Descendants fanfic! Thanks for reading my story and please tell me what you think. Until next time! Love you guys!


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